


over the moon

by melondrops (daybreakfiction)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Folklore, M/M, Urban Legends, sorry in advance btw, this is gonna be a long one, will tag as I go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-06-23 17:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15611571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daybreakfiction/pseuds/melondrops
Summary: The legend of the child of the moon, also known as the moonchild, has been passed through generations upon generations. Two particular families have been tied to each other since the beginning of time. These families are not related, but they are cursed to belong to one another until the end.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so... this fic has been in the making since APRIL and originally i was planning on a oneshot but it became a long mess and i've finally decided to just suck it up and write it as a chaptered fic... this is gonna be a long one
> 
> sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes im only human
> 
> also special shoutout to grace, sarah, angela, and all my other friends that have helped me through writing this fic i love u all alot <3

It was a cold day when Jeno started his first day of private school. He had grown up attending public school his entire life and was perfectly fine with it. His parents, on the other hand, wanted much more for him. So when they needed to move after his mother, a doctor, was transferred to a different hospital, his parents jumped at the opportunity at enrolling their precious son in the private high school that was a few streets away. 

Jeno and his family ended up moving outside of Seoul, where he was raised. Now, they were living in a smaller, much cozier town. His parents had found a house that was just big enough for the family of three and Jeno was even able to have a bigger room. 

Unfortunately for the teenager, enrolling in a new school meant that he would have to make new friends. He was sad about having to leave his old friends behind, but he figured he could last one year without them. 

"Jeno! Come down here and get your uniform! Your mother just finished ironing them." Jeno rolled off of his bed, letting out a groan as he landed on his back. He quickly stood up and left his room, racing down the stairs, nearly colliding with his father at the bottom of the stairs. 

"Sorry dad." Jeno smiled sheepishly at his father before running off to find his mother. He saw her in the living room of their new house and his uniform was hanging, free of wrinkles. To thank his mother, Jeno quickly kissed her cheek, causing a smile to grow on her face. 

"Are you excited for school tomorrow?" Jeno's mother asked, the smile still on her face. 

"Not really excited... I'm kind of nervous." Jeno replied, following his mother as she walked into the kitchen. He saw down at the small table in the kitchen and his father soon joined him.

"There are only a few months left in the school year, right?" Jeno's father said, staring at his son.

"The graduation is in May, so I have five months in this school." Jeno said softly, staring at his uniform. It was a boring uniform that consisted of black pants and a white button-down shirt. To keep warm, Jeno had a thick black cardigan to wear over his shirt. 

"Five months is a long time, Jeno. I'm sure you'll make plenty of new friends." Jeno's mother smiled and Jeno let out a sigh, letting his head fall onto the table softly.

Hopefully he would be able to make some new friends. 

-   


The next morning, Jeno woke up early enough to say goodbye to his mother before she went to work. It was also her first day at the new hospital, so she was just as nervous as Jeno. 

Jeno quickly got ready after his mother left the house. Wearing a uniform was a hassle, but it was comfortable enough for the senior to wear. Jeno wore the cardigan as well because it was freezing outside, in the middle of January. His father had left him a 'good luck' note with a poorly drawn smiley face. The effort was cute, in Jeno's opinion. 

After getting ready, Jeno made sure to grab a scarf before heading out for the day.

The great thing about living so close to his school was that Jeno could get away with sleeping in until the last minute, because it would only take about ten minutes to walk to school. The unfortunate thing about living so close to his school was that he would have to walk through the weather, even if it was raining cats and dogs. 

This was one of those days. It was early January and snow was steadily falling from the sky, falling onto Jeno's head. He didn't have a hat or hood to use to cover his head, so he wrapped his scarf around his neck a couple times to make up for the lack of warmth.

Jeno stared at the ground as he made his way to his new school. The snow was already about two inches high, so the high schooler was leaving footprints with every step he made. He let out a sigh, wishing he had worn boots instead of just sneakers. His mother was going to kill him for coming back home with soaked shoes. 

It only took Jeno a few minutes to reach the school. The school was fairly large, considering it was located outside of Seoul. After hours of research, Jeno was able to learn that the school was actually divided into four parts. Each building of the school was equal in size, but the only difference was going to be which grade level would be in each part. Jeno would be placed in the senior building, which was located at the very back of the campus. 

There were many students walking on the campus of the school, making Jeno feel out of place. They all seemed to know where they were going and Jeno was the only person standing still at the entrance.

"Are you lost?" A soft voice called from behind Jeno, causing him to turn around. Jeno quickly turned, spotting another young man standing in the snow. He had golden hair, much lighter than Jeno's jet black hair. His cheeks were flushed red, probably due to the cold and he was wearing a pair of earmuffs over his ears, giving him the appearance of a child. Jeno couldn't help but notice how the young man was wearing a jacket that definitely had sleeves that were too long for him, creating sweater paws. 

' _Cute_.' Jeno thought, still staring at the boy. 

"Is that a yes?" The boy continued on, tilting his head when Jeno said nothing in reply.

Jeno blushed, feeling embarrassed at his own actions, "Yes, I guess. It's my first day here." 

"That's kind of obvious. What year are you in? I can bring you to the administration of the school, if you want." The other boy said, taking a few steps closer to Jeno. 

"I'm a senior. My name is Lee Jeno, it's nice to meet you." Jeno bowed his head as he introduced himself. 

"Oh, I'm a senior too! I'm Huang Renjun. I can take you to the senior building, if you want?" Renjun smiled and started to walk next to Jeno to lead him to the senior building. While walking together, Jeno couldn't help but notice how small the other boy was compared to him. Jeno knew he was a bit tall for his age, but there was something about Renjun that made him seem incredibly fragile. It was like one touch from Jeno could break him.

Jeno felt a bit awkward, walking next to a stranger. Renjun was preoccupied with staring at his phone in his hands and when Jeno glanced over, he could see that Renjun was texting someone. Jeno didn't want to pry into his business, so he looked away. 

 As they were walking to the senior building, Jeno couldn't help but notice the stares that Renjun was getting. There were many people staring at him as he walked by. 

"Renjun! Are you alone today?" 

At the entrance of the senior building, there was a young man standing there as if he was waiting for someone. If there was one word to describe this person, Jeno would definitely say that is was sun-kissed. This student had dark brown hair and a small smile on his face as Renjun and Jeno walked closer to the entrance. 

"Yes, Jaemin's not feeling too well today. I don't know when he'll be back in school." Renjun replied, smiling a little at the other student. 

"Knowing him, he'll probably be back next week. So does that mean you're sitting with us for lunch?" The other boy said softly. Renjun nodded his head and the small smile on the stranger's face grew wider.

"By the way, this is Lee Jeno. He's a new senior here. Jeno, this is Donghyuck. He's a friend of mine that's also a senior." Renjun said, introducing the two seniors to each other. 

Donghyuck let out a bitter laugh, "You mean _back-up_  friend, Renjun. Jaemin won't let you have actual friends."

"Don’t talk about Jaemin like that!" Renjun snapped, glaring at Donghyuck with fierce eyes. Donghyuck immediately frowned and just shrugged his shoulders before patting Jeno on the shoulder. 

"Welcome to school, Jeno. You're going to meet a lot of interesting people here." Donghyuck said, but the new student couldn't quite tell if Donghyuck was being sarcastic or not. He turned to Renjun with the intention of asking what Donghyuck meant, but the other boy was still glaring at Donghyuck.

"Let's head inside and go to the administers office. They'll have your schedule ready for you there." Renjun said softly, leading Jeno into the building. 

Donghyuck had walked away at some point and Jeno could see him further down the hall of the entrance, talking to a group of other people that Jeno assumed were also seniors. Renjun led Jeno to an office that was located close to the entrance and told Jeno to take a seat inside.

"I need to head to class now, but just ask for your schedule and hopefully they remember to give you a map. I'll see you around, Jeno." Before Jeno got the chance to thank Renjun for helping him, the other senior left the office without saying another word. 

Jeno let out a sigh, unraveling the scarf from around his neck. He was back to square one again, meaning he was alone and a bit confused on what to do at this new school. He hoped he shared a few classes with Renjun, or even Donghyuck, because then he wouldn't have to go through any awkward introductions again. 

One thing that was for sure was that Jeno was definitely looking forward to seeing Renjun again. 

-

After three classes at his new school, Jeno was officially exhausted. He had thought that getting to his classes would be easy, considering that they were all located in the same building. However, he was definitely wrong. The senior building had four floors and only one elevator, which was only to be used by those that truly need it. 

In other words, Jeno was stuck running down flights of stairs to get from one classroom to another. He didn't want to make a bad impression on his new teachers, so he tried his best to be extremely early to each class. He knew that by the end of the semester, he was probably going to be walking in late anyway. 

When lunch time finally came around, Jeno was stuck facing another dilemma. He had no where to sit.

He had been told by the secretary in the administration office that students were free to roam the campus during their lunches, especially if they had friends in different grades, but it was still only January, meaning it was freezing and most students opted to just stay in their own buildings. 

The cafeteria in the senior building was quite spacious. It was on the ground level of the building and while one side was just a normal wall, the other side had glass windows that went from the ceiling all the way to the floor. It made the cafeteria seem bigger while also providing the nice scenery of the trees surrounding the building. 

Jeno really wanted to sit by a window, so that he could stare outside, but all of the tables by the windows were taken and Jeno didn't want to make a fool of himself and sit where he wasn't really wanted.

"Hey! You're the new kid that Renjun was with earlier." A familiar voice said, snapping Jeno out of his thoughts. Jeno blinked and spotted Donghyuck standing in front of him with another student.

"Renjun was with someone else besides Jaemin? Wow, what a surprise." The other student said, causing Donghyuck to elbow him in his stomach.

"Shut up, Mark. Your name was Jeno, right? Did you want to sit with me and my friends?" Donghyuck said, grinning up at Jeno. Mark, the other student, was busy rubbing his now sore stomach, but he nodded his head as well. 

"Is it okay if I sit with you guys?" Jeno said and both Donghyuck and Mark nodded. 

That was how Jeno found himself sitting at a table with two seniors and two juniors. Donghyuck introduced Jeno to Mark Lee, a Canadian foreign exchange student and a senior. Then, he was introduced to the juniors Park Jisung and Zhong Chenle. They were sitting at a table right next to the glass windows of the cafeteria, so Jeno was a bit distracted by watching the snow fall to the ground outside.

"Mark, you forgot to wait for me after English!" Jeno looked away from the window and saw Renjun standing at the table and there was a frown on his face, showing his obvious anger. Mark blinked at the sight of the other senior. 

"I didn’t know I had to wait for you today. Where’s Jaemin?" Mark scoot himself over to make room for Renjun at the table, right across from Jeno. Renjun smiled politely at Jeno before turning back to Mark. 

"He’s not feeling good. He might be back next week if he recovers quickly."

"I'm surprised he doesn’t force himself to come to school even when he’s sick. You know how he doesn’t like when you hang out with us." Donghyuck said, giving Renjun a pointed look. Renjun sighed, acknowledging what Donghyuck was saying. 

"Stop talking bad about Jaemin when he's not here." Renjun said softly, taking a small bag out of his backpack. Jeno watched as the other senior took out an apple and banana.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" Chenle asks, also staring at Renjun.

"Forgot to make a lunch." Renjun said simply before taking a bite of his apple. 

Jeno stares down at his own lunch, which was packed by his father. His father had made him a simple sandwich with meat, cheese, and lettuce inside. He wasn't feeling that hungry and was probably only going to eat half of the sandwich anyway, so he carefully took the other half of his sandwich and offered it to Renjun, "Here. You can have the other half of my sandwich."

"Aren't you going to be hungry?" Renjun replied, taking the sandwich nonetheless. He stared at the sandwich for a moment before taking a small bite. 

"It's fine." Jeno said, turning his attention back to staring outside. 

"So Jeno, can we ask you why you moved to this small town? I heard that you came from Seoul." Donghyuck said, stuffing his mouth with chips. Mark cringed at how messy Donghyuck was eating. 

"My mom got a job at the hospital in town. I was born and raised in Seoul." Jeno said. 

"What class do you have after lunch?" Mark asked as he handed Renjun a bottle of water. Jeno blinked, not even sure where the bottle of water had come from. 

Jeno took his schedule out of his pocket where he had been keeping it and he read down his list of classes, "I have Art History after lunch. Then after that I have P.E. and Physics." 

"You have the same schedule as Renjun after lunch!" Donghyuck exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat. Jisung pulled on his sleeve, forcing him to sit back down. 

"Oh, and I guess we're in P.E. together too." Mark said, a small smile on his face. 

"Since Jaemin's not here, I can walk with you to class." Renjun said as he finished eating the sandwich he was given. He stared at Jeno, taking a bite from the apple he had previously started eating. 

"You guys keep mentioning someone named Jaemin... Who is he?" Jeno knew that is was a bit rude to be asking about someone he had never met, but he was curious about who exactly this person was. He had heard his name multiple times today and it seemed like Jaemin was important to Renjun. 

"He's Renjun's bodyguard." Chenle replied, smiling at Jeno. Renjun let out a noise of protest, shaking his head at Chenle's response.

"Jaemin is actually Renjun's best friend. He and Renjun normally don't hang out with us... You'll see why when Jaemin comes back." Mark said, gently reaching a hand over to pat Renjun's head. Jeno stared at Renjun for a moment, wondering what kind of relationship he had with Jaemin. He sounded much more than just a best friend. 

The teenagers then diverted the topic of their conversation, opting to discuss their plans for the following weekend. Renjun was strangely quiet during the conversation, making Jeno think about whether or not he was joining them. Donghyuck was nice enough to invite Jeno to hang out with the group that was planning on going to hang out together at the arcade that had opened a few months ago. Jeno had no idea where the arcade was, so Mark had promised to meet him by his house. 

Ironically enough, Jeno learned that both Jisung and Mark lived on the same street he did, so they decided to walk together in the mornings and afternoon. Jeno didn't share any classes in the morning with his new group of friends, but Renjun was in all three of his afternoon classes and then Donghyuck was in their Physics class as well. 

Jeno was glad he made a few friends on his first day of school. One of his biggest worries was being alone all throughout his last year of high school, but the friends he was making seemed to be ones that he could trust.  

Renjun was still a bit mysterious to Jeno, but he believed that all it took was a few more days to get to know each other until the other boy was comfortable.

Maybe the two of them would become good friends. 

-

"How was school?"

"Did you like the school?"

"Did you make any friends?"

Jeno didn't even have one foot in his house before he was bombarded by questions from his parents. His mother, still dressed in her scrubs, was sitting at the kitchen table with his father, who was also still dressed for work. He smiled at his parents before shrugging his coat off. 

"The school is bigger than I thought, but I made a few friends today. They even asked me about hanging out this weekend at an arcade. A couple of them live on this street too." Jeno replied as he walked passed his parents to the staircase that lead to the upper floor of the new house. His parents seemed to be pleased by the answer, so they let him go up to his room without any more questions. 

Once Jeno got to his room, he threw his bag onto his bed before taking a look at his phone. He had exchanged numbers with everyone at the table during lunch and Mark had even added him to the group chat that they were all in. Strangely enough, Renjun wasn't in the group chat. Jeno never had the chance to ask why. 

The group chat had more than ten unread messages.

_[SENIORS + the kids]_

**Mark** : okay KIDS who's up for a sleepover after hanging out at the arcade??   
**Donghyuck** : no one, old man   
**Mark** : so that's a yes from hyuck... anyone else?   
**Chenle** : jisung said sure   
**Chenle** : so i'm coming too   
**Donghyuck** : is jeno reading the messages    
**Mark** : maybe we scared him off   
**Donghyuck** : hey should we add renjun back to this group chat?    
**Chenle** : won't jaemin make him leave again?   
**Mark** : probably, but let's just add him back anyway

_[Mark added Renjun to the chat]_

**Renjun** : uh   
**Renjun** : you guys know what's going to happen if i'm in this chat   
**Donghyuck** : well jaemin can SUCK IT because i missed you   
**Mark** : be nice, hyuck   
**Donghyuck** : ANYWAYS where is jeno   
**Jeno** : i'm here. i was talking to my parents about school.   
**Mark** : no worries! do you think you can sleepover this weekend?   
**Jeno** : probably!   
**Renjun** : ...i'll try to come too   
**Donghyuck** : perfect! 

Jeno stared at his phone, smiling a bit at the messages. His new group of friends was full of interesting characters. Donghyuck definitely was not fond of whoever Jaemin was. He was a bit nervous about having a sleepover with his new friends since they had only met today, but he was sure that everything would be fine. 

Renjun, once again, seemed a bit off in the chat, but at least he was going to be at the sleepover as well. The weekend was a few days away, so Jeno still had some time to prepare himself for hanging out with the mysterious boy. 

"Jeno! Come down for dinner. We're having pizza!" Jeno's mother called and the teenager quickly put his phone back into his pocket before going downstairs once more. 

Dinner with his family had always been very important to Jeno. This was the only time he was able to see his parents and actually talk with them. 

"So, tell us about the friends you made today?" Jeno's mother said, smiling at him as they started to eat. 

"I met some other seniors when I was walking into the school and they're the same ones I sat with for lunch. There were a couple juniors sitting with us too." Jeno explained, trying to recall the events of the day.

Then his mother went on to talk about her first day at the new hospital. Jeno was glad to heard that she had made a few friends of her own as well. Apparently, the hospital that she was working at now was one of the oldest in the country, but it was still well-known for its amazing work. His father talked about how bad traffic was driving into the city. 

After dinner, Jeno went back upstairs to do some homework before getting ready for bed.

Tomorrow would be another day.

-

Walking with Mark and Jisung to school was definitely a lot more exciting compared to walking alone. The junior was busy making snowballs, throwing them at Mark's back nonchalantly. Mark didn't seem to mind at all. 

Mark and Jeno busied themselves with talking about their P.E. class. Since it was still winter and cold outside, their teacher was making them run laps inside the gym. Jeno was a decent runner, so he didn't really mind. Neither did Mark, but he felt bored just running around. 

When the trio reached the school, Jisung quickly said his goodbye before making his way over to the junior building. Mark and Jeno continued walking to the back of the campus, immediately spotting Donghyuck, who was holding Renjun in what looked like a chokehold. 

"What are you doing to Renjun?" Mark said as the two walked closer to the senior building. Renjun looked like he was having a hard time with Donghyuck's arm wrapped around his neck.

"Showing him how much I love him." Donghyuck said simply as he let Renjun go. The other young man let out a sigh, rubbing his neck. 

"Good morning Mark, good morning Jeno." Renjun smiled at Jeno, causing something in Jeno's chest to swell up. Renjun was wearing a pair of round framed glasses today, along with a fluffy scarf that covered up nearly half of his face. Again, his sleeves were too long for his arms, giving him sweater paws. 

"Good morning Renjun." Jeno replied, smiling back at the other boy. 

"How is Jaemin doing, Renjun?" Mark said as the four seniors walked into the building. Renjun started to unravel the scarf around his neck once the warmth of the building reached his skin. 

"Still as sick as ever. He doesn't like taking his medicine." Renjun frowned and stopped at his locker in the hallway. Mark's locker was next to his, but Donghyuck and Jeno's were still further down the hallway. 

Once Renjun and Mark were done getting their books from their lockers, Donghyuck and Jeno did the same at their lockers. They all had different classes in the mornings, so they all promised to meet up at lunch before going their separate ways. 

Jeno watched Renjun walk down a different hallway, a small frown on his face. A part of him wished he could talk to Renjun a bit more, to learn more about him. That didn't seem possible at the moment, especially because of how skittish Renjun appeared to be. 

Just like the day before, Jeno found himself running up and down stairs to get to his classrooms in time. His first three classes, which were Chemistry, Statistics, and Biology were relatively boring and full of long lectures. 

He was actually looking forward to having lunch with his new friends, along with his afternoon classes with both Renjun and Mark. He had sat next to Renjun in Art History and Physics, only because Jaemin wasn't in class. The previous day, during P.E., Jeno and Mark had run laps while Renjun opted to walk the laps instead. He was the only student that was allowed to walk those laps. When Jeno had asked why that was the case, Mark simply brushed off the subject without giving him an answer.

"Are you okay, Jeno?"

Before he knew it, Jeno was already standing in front of the cafeteria. He turned to his left and saw Donghyuck staring at him. Jisung and Chenle were with him as well.

"Sorry, I was spacing out." Jeno smiled, hoping they didn't think he was strange. He really did have a habit of spacing out too much.

"Mark and Renjun already saved us a table." Donghyuck said, patting Jeno on the shoulder as he walked passed him. Jisung and Chenle grinned at the senior before linking their arms together.

"Jeno, can we call you hyung?" Chenle said, staring at the senior with wide eyes. Jisung did the same.

"Of course you can. We're friends now, aren't we?" Jeno replied. The two juniors grinned even more before they took Jeno's wrists, dragging him over to the table that Mark and Renjun were seated at. This time, Renjun had more than enough food packed for lunch. He had one container of rice and several side dishes packed as well. 

"Does he think we'll let you starve?" Jeno heard Mark mumble once everyone was seated. 

Donghyuck stared at Renjun's lunch, "Jaemin really outdid himself this time. Look at all those side dishes."

"Jaemin packed your lunch?" Jeno found himself asking, even though he and Renjun weren't that close yet. He really had no reason to question Renjun like that. 

"He found out what happened yesterday and packed my lunch this morning..." Renjun replied, his cheeks blushing slightly. Jeno's expression remained blank for a moment as he also started staring at Renjun's lunch.

"You guys can eat some, if you want. You know I can't finish all this." Renjun continued on, placing the side dishes in the center of the table. The juniors immediately helped themselves to the food, but it looked like Mark and Donghyuck weren't interested at all. 

"Mark hyung, did you want us to bring anything to the sleepover?" Chenle asked, looking over at the senior.

"Bring your toothbrush. Remember what happened last time?" Mark said, letting out a laugh. Jeno looked back and forth between Chenle and Mark, feeling a bit left out.

Renjun was nice enough to fill him in, "The last time we had a sleepover Chenle forgot his toothbrush and somehow ended up using Mark's toothbrush."

Jeno grimaced at the thought of sharing his toothbrush with another person. Chenle was smiling, seemingly unbothered by the memory. 

"Did you do the Physics homework, Jeno?" Renjun asked as he finished as much food as he could. Jeno noticed he only ate half of the rice Jaemin had packed for him.

"There was homework?" Jeno quickly reached into his backpack that was under the table and took out the binder that was meant for his Physics class. He thought he finished all of his assignments, but he had no idea something was assigned during Physics.

"Do you want to copy my worksheet? I don’t mind." Renjun also reached into his bag and he took out the worksheet to hang to Jeno. The worksheet looked vaguely familiar to Jeno and the new student realized that he had placed the worksheet in the back of his binder, hence why he forgot about it. 

Renjun's handwriting was extremely neat and even though Jeno had only known Renjun for one day, he could tell that his handwriting matched his personality. Everything on the worksheet was neat and easy to read. 

It was only his second day but Jeno was already copying homework. His mother would be extremely disappointed.  

“Wow, Renjun is actually letting someone copy his homework?” Donghyuck said, pouting a little at the other senior. Renjun stuck his tongue out at him.

"It's only Jeno's second day here, I'm just being nice." Renjun said and Donghyuck just let out a sigh. Jeno wasn't sure what exactly that sigh even meant.

Lunch went on without any problems. It was nice having a group of friends to talk to about school and other things. Even though Jeno had only met everyone the day before, they were all friendly and fun to be around. 

He would only be with them for about five months, until they graduated. Jeno was sure the next five months were going to be exciting. 

-

After lunch, Renjun and Jeno both had Art History so they walked together to their classroom. Art History was relatively boring for Jeno, who was probably the least artistic person in the world, but he could tell that Renjun enjoyed it. He participated a lot in class and the teacher seemed to be fond of him. 

From his seat on Renjun's left, Jeno could see the little doodles that were in the margins of his notes. There were various smiley faces and flowers drawn neatly on the paper. Renjun even took the time to shade his doodles. 

It was impressive, how Renjun could participate in class and still have the time to doodle like that. 

During this class, Jeno took the time to take in Renjun's appearance. The other boy had a small face, but a cute button nose that fit his face. His light brown hair covered his forehead and the glasses he was wearing today somehow made his eyes look darker than they really were. Again, if Jeno were to choose a word to describe Renjun, it was going to be fragile. His arms were completely covered by his sleeves, making the new student believe that Renjun probably didn't have any clothes that properly fitted him.

Jeno wondered if he was hiding anything under those sleeves.

Before he had a chance to dwell more on those thoughts, Jeno heard the bell ring, signaling that class was now over. He started to pack his things into his bag, watching as Renjun did the same. 

"Mark's just going to meet us at the gym, right?" Renjun asked as they stepped out of their classroom. The gym was actually a separate building, which meant that they would have to walk through the cold to get there. 

"Yeah, he mentioned that earlier." Jeno said, making a quick stop at his locker to grab his gym clothes. He waited for Renjun, who did the same at his own locker which was down the hall from his.

They left the senior building and quickly walked over to the gym. Renjun nearly tripped over nothing, but luckily Jeno was there to stop his fall. Renjun thanked him with a quiet nod. 

Once the two reached the gym, they saw Mark waiting at the door. He was already dressed in his gym clothes, "We're running laps again. Renjun, you're allowed to walk." 

"Like always." Renjun mumbled, making his way to the locker room the change. Jeno hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask Mark about Renjun's special exception, but Mark had already walked towards the track before he had the chance. 

Jeno sighed and decided that it would be better to ask during another time, so he went to go change into his gym clothes as well. 

P.E. was boring and tiring. Jeno and Mark jogged around the track of the gym and they both had lost count of how many times they lapped Renjun, who wanted to jog with them. Mark never let him. 

"So, is there any reason in particular why Renjun's allowed to walk these laps when the rest of the class is running?" Jeno finally asked Mark, making sure Renjun wasn't around to hear. 

"I don't know if you noticed, but Renjun's pretty frail and that's why Donghyuck and I tend to be a bit protective him. Renjun gets sick easily and you'll see what I mean when Jaemin gets back." Mark said softly, looking straight ahead of him as he picked up the pace of his running. It was easy for Jeno to keep up from him.

"What does Jaemin have to do with how sick Renjun gets?" Jeno said, almost feeling frustrated about how this Jaemin person seemed to be a part of everything involving Renjun.

"It's kind of complicated, but you'll understand when Jaemin comes back to school. You'll see the difference." Mark replied, making it clear that he no longer wanted to talk about it. 

For the rest of their P.E. class, Mark and Jeno remained quiet. They lapped Renjun a few more times and Mark made sure to check on the other senior each time. Renjun just waved him off, indicating he was fine. 

After class, the seniors changed back into their normal uniforms and Mark headed to his last class of the day without Jeno and Renjun. The two had Physics for their last class, which meant another class period of a boring lecture. In their physics class, Jeno was seated two rows behind Renjun, so he wasn't able to talk to him at all throughout the class. He tried his best to pay attention in class, but the sight of the other boy two rows ahead of him was slightly distracting. Jeno could see whenever Renjun would duck his head down to stare at his notes and he could tell whenever he could start daydreaming, because he would look out of the window, as if he was in a daze. 

Something about Renjun kept drawing Jeno in... and there was nothing he could do about it.

-

Friday came sooner than Jeno thought and before he knew it, he was in Mark's home, sitting on the floor of the senior's room watching as the others played video games. He, as an only child, was fairly good at video games because that was his only form of entertainment growing up. Mark and Donghyuck were currently playing Mario Kart and the older one was winning. 

Renjun was seated next to Jeno on the floor, their knees brushing gently every time Renjun moved or Jeno laughed. Renjun didn't seem to notice. Jeno obviously did. 

Jisung and Chenle were sitting together on a few pillows nearby Jeno. They were actively cheering on Donghyuck during the race. 

"Winner gets to call Jaemin and tell him Renjun's sleeping over." Mark suddenly said, focusing on the television in front of him. He was one lap ahead of Donghyuck and there were only 3 laps left. 

"That's not fair! I would have tried harder if you said this when we started!" Donghyuck cried out, now standing to focus on the race as well. 

Renjun brought a hand over to pinch Mark's leg, "Stop being mean to Jaemin!"

Mark scoffed, saying nothing in reply when Renjun pinched his leg. Jeno glanced back up at Donghyuck who was concentrating on the race as well. There was a fire in his eyes and a newfound determination in them as well. It seemed like both Mark and Donghyuck wanted to win.

"Renjun ge, does Jaemin even know that you're here?" Chenle asked loudly. 

"I didn't want him to get mad, so I just didn't tell him." Renjun replied softly, looking away for a moment.

"He doesn't have the right to get mad at you for something like this. You guys aren't dating or anything." Mark said seriously, eyes still on the television. Donghyuck made a noise of agreement, gently nudging Renjun with his foot. 

"Yeah, I know, but I owe him a lot." Renjun sighed, leaning back against the bed. 

Jeno stayed silent, feeling like an outsider with his new friends. There was obviously something going on that he didn't know about and it didn't seem like anyone was going to inform him about anything. He was going to have to figure out things on his own. 

Chenle was the one to break the awkward silence, "Can we eat some snacks?" 

"We just ate pizza!"

"Well I'm hungry again!" 

Laughing, Renjun stood up from his seat on the floor an announced he was going downstairs into Mark's kitchen to get some chips and popcorn. Before anyone else had the chance, Jeno stood up as well and said he was going to accompany the other boy downstairs. 

Mark's parents were already asleep and the staircase leading downstairs was pitch black, making it impossible to see the steps. Renjun walked down the stairs, not missing a step at all. Jeno followed, holding onto the railing just in case he were to fall. 

"How many bags of popcorn should we make?" Renjun asked, already ripping open one bag of popcorn. He went over and placed it in the microwave, pressing a button to start it.

"Maybe two? Chenle and Jisung can probably finish one bag together. The other bag can be for the rest of us." Jeno replied, knowing that the youngest two had huge appetites. He'd given them snacks at school for the last two days during lunch.

Jeno smiled at the sight of Renjun staring at the microwave, waiting for the popcorn to pop. They were all wearing their pajamas already and Renjun's pajamas were particularly adorable. Renjun was a huge fan of Moomin and his pants had a cute design of Moomin all over them. He was wearing a dark purple hoodie and this hoodie had extra long sleeves, like all of Renjun's other clothes. 

"How are you liking our small little town so far? It must be pretty boring compared to Seoul." Renjun said, still staring into the microwave. 

"It's actually really cozy here. Seoul could be hectic at times, so this change of pace is nice. Have you lived here all your life, Renjun?" Jeno replied, walking over to the fridge to grab some drinks for everyone. He grabbed enough cans of soda for everyone that was upstairs. 

"Yeah, my ancestors migrated here from China like... two hundred years ago, I think. That's what my parents told me. I don't know much about my family history though." Renjun said, his voice becoming soft. Jeno took that as a signal to stop talking about Renjun's family. 

"Is there anything fun to do in this town? Besides going to the arcade and stuff like that. You must know this town like the back of your hand." Jeno asked, carrying the cans of soda in his arms.

Renjun hummed softly, thinking as the first bag of popcorn finished popping. He placed the second bag in the microwave, pressing the same button to start it, "Well, there's this forest that I used to explore as a kid. That's about as exciting as it gets here." 

Jeno nodded his head, remembering the forest that Renjun was talking about. He had seen it the day he moved to this small town because his parents wanted to drive around to go sightseeing. 

"Will you take me there one day?" Jeno asked, as the second bag of popcorn finished popping. The two started to make their way back upstairs, already hearing Chenle's whining for food on the staircase.

"Maybe one day, Jeno." Was Renjun's quiet reply. Once they reached Mark's room, Chenle was already sitting up with his arms out. Renjun tossed a bag of popcorn over to him, which he luckily caught. 

"Mark won the race and he texted Jaemin." Chenle announced, his mouth full of popcorn. Jeno handed both him and Jisung a can of soda before handing a can over to Donghyuck and Mark.

"I told you guys to leave him alone... Now's he's going to keep texting me." Renjun sighed, grabbing his phone from where it was charging on Mark's dresser. He let out another sigh, showing everyone his screen. 

There were thirteen texts from Jaemin. Jeno didn't stare long enough to read them.

"He's coming back to school next week, right?" Donghyuck said, looking over at Renjun. 

"He's feeling a lot better, so he should be back next week. Thanks for keeping me company while he was sick." Renjun smiled at his friends and once again, Jeno felt butterflies in his stomach. Renjun had a really pretty smile.

"He was only sick for a week this time. That's a pretty fast recovery." Mark said, carefully opening his can of soda. He took a sip of it, careful not to spill anything.

"He actually took all of his medicine this time, that's why. He hates getting those shots, but I made sure he got them all." Renjun replied, taking his seat once more on the floor. Jeno sat down next to him.

"What should we play next?" Jisung asked, looking around at his older friends. 

Donghyuck rolled around from his spot on Mark's bed, "You guys want to sneak out and go exploring?"

"Are you serious?"

"Let's go!"

"It's already after midnight!"

Jeno let out a laugh at Renjun's protests of exploring. Chenle, on the other hand, was all for the idea and was already standing up to put his jacket on. Jisung followed his actions, also standing up.

"Come on Renjun! Who knows when we'll be able to hang out with out again, so can we please go out? Pretty please?" Donghyuck pouted his lips towards Renjun and the other boy's demeanor immediately faltered. Mark was standing up as well, already putting his jacket on. 

Were they really about to go out in their pajamas? After midnight?

"Let's go play baseball at the park." Mark said as he went over to his closet. He opened it and inside Jeno saw a variety of baseball equipment inside. Mark must have been a player.

"Fine. But only because Mark is bringing his baseball bat with him." Renjun replied, getting off of the floor. He offered his hand to Jeno to help him up.

Jeno hesitated before taking his hand. He stood up slowly and immediately let go once he was standing up.

Renjun's hand was incredibly soft. 

"Won't your parents notice that we're gone, Mark?" Jeno asked when they all started to leave his room. Chenle and Jisung were the most excited to be sneaking out and Donghyuck had to elbow them to keep them quiet.

"Probably not. We'll be fine jeno, don't worry!" Mark cheered, swinging his baseball bat around. Donghyuck was carrying the bag of baseballs and gloves.

As soon as they stepped outside, Jeno felt the cold winter air hit his face. It was still January, after all, so it was freezing. It hadn't snowed in a few days, so luckily the sidewalks were clear and safe to walk on. They couldn't all fit on the sidewalk if they were standing next to each other, so they walked in pairs instead. Chenle and Jisung lead the group with obvious excitement and Mark and Donghyuck were right behind them, talking about baseball. 

That left Jeno with Renjun, which was beginning to happen a bit too often for Jeno's liking. 

Renjun was busy staring at the night sky as they walked to the park. Jeno followed the direction of his gaze and realized that Renjun was staring right at the moon. It was a full moon and it was so bright, it felt like the moon was much closer than it really was. Jeno could see how the moon was shining in Renjun's eyes. 

It was beautiful. 

"Do you ever think about how amazing the moon is? People have only been on the moon a couple of times but they think they know all about it..." Renjun spoke quietly, still staring up at the moon. 

Jeno said nothing, but simply allowed Renjun to keep talking, "Plus, we always see the same side of the moon. Who knows what's on the other side?" 

Before Jeno had the chance to reply, they had all arrived at the park. Jeno hadn't had the chance to visit this park yet, but he knew this was the park that he passed when he walked to school. It was right next to an elementary school and it had a fairly large baseball field next to it.

"Who wants to pitch?" 

"Me! Me!" Chenle cheered, taking the bag of baseballs and gloves from Donghyuck. He grabbed a glove and put it on before grabbing a few baseballs as well.

"Renjun hyung, are you going to play this time?" Jisung said, smiling at the senior. Renjun glared at Jisung, a small frown growing on his face.

"Not after how you guys made fun of me last time! It's not my fault I'm bad at baseball!" Renjun huffed, stomping on the ground a bit. Mark laughed and pat Renjun's head, cooing at him. Donghyuck joined in as well, giving Renjun a hug.

"Renjun ge is really bad at baseball. I mean really really  _really_ bad." Chenle told Jeno, letting him know why exactly Renjun was getting teased. 

"Okay, so Chenle is pitching and I guess we can all just take turns hitting the ball like last time. If you hit it hard you have to go get your own ball in the field." Mark instructed, swinging his bat a bit. Jeno stood off to the side, next to Donghyuck, over by what seemed to be the home plate. 

Chenle skipped over to the pitcher's mound, showing obvious excitement for the small baseball game they were about to play. Jisung was standing behind home plate, acting as the catcher. 

"It's too cold to be out here." Renjun mumbled from his spot next to Jeno. 

Jeno glanced over, noticing that Renjun was shivering, "Do you want to wear my jacket?"

Without looking up at Jeno, Renjun nodded his head. Jeno quickly took off his padded jacket and handed it over to Renjun. He instantly regretted taking off his jacket when he felt the cold winter air around him, but Renjun looked like he needed the jacket more than he did. He was wearing a thick enough hoodie to keep him warm for the rest of the night. 

"How cute." Donghyuck grinned, nudging Jeno gently with his finger. Donghyuck ran off to get in line to hit before Jeno was able to tell him that what he did meant nothing. Jeno frowned and kept his mouth shut, not wanting to make anything awkward with his new friends. 

Mark had apparently hit the ball while Jeno was busy giving his jacket to Renjun. It had flown pretty far and the senior was running off into the field to retrieve the ball he hit. Donghyuck was already at home plate with the baseball bat in his hands, ready to try to hit a baseball.

"Donghyuck and Mark used to play baseball together in elementary school. They can get really competitive with each other when we play like this." Renjun smiled, zipping up Jeno's jacket around his body. It was definitely a size too big for Renjun and it looked as if the jacket could swallow him whole. Once again, Jeno realized how small Renjun really was.

"Are you going to hit too?" Jeno asked, curious about how bad Renjun really was at baseball.

"No, I'll just watch. Chenle wasn't lying when he said I was bad at baseball. I like watching everyone play though." Renjun smiled at Jeno, as if to reassure him that he was going to be fine by himself. 

"Jeno hyung! Come hit the ball next!" 

Jeno glanced back at Renjun as he started to walk over to home plate where Jisung was holding the bat out for him, but the other boy was too busy staring up at the moon with a glazed look in his eyes. 

It was a captivating sight for Jeno.

It was also the moment Jeno realized he was developing feelings for Renjun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡ happy birthday nana ♡

The following week, Jeno found himself walking with Mark and Jisung to school once more. It was convenient for all of them and it was nice to have some company when walking to school. It was snowing as they walked to school together. Jeno was wearing a beanie this time to keep his head warm and Jisung was wrapped up in a fluffy scarf that Jeno recognized to be Mark's.

"Jaemin hyung is back today, right?" Jisung asked once the three reached the campus. They stood at the entrance, waiting for Donghyuck and Chenle to join them.

Mark nodded his head, "Yeah, he's back today. He and Renjun are coming this way now, actually."

At the sound of Renjun's name, Jeno immediately found himself looking for the smaller boy. 

He was walking with another person, who Jeno assumed was Jaemin, and the two looked like they were in a deep discussion about something. Renjun was wearing his glasses and his jacket was thick enough to keep him warm from the cold. 

But something seemed off about Renjun.

He looked as if he didn't sleep at all. Even though Jeno was a bit far from him, he could tell that Renjun had dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were nearly bloodshot and his skin was somehow ever paler than it usually was. He looked so lethargic and it worried Jeno. 

Jaemin, on the other hand, looked like an extremely bright person. He had a huge smile on his face and Jeno saw that his arm was interlocked with Renjun's. He had light brown hair, a few shades darker than that of their mutual friend. He was a bit taller than Renjun, but not as tall as Jeno was. He looked simple to Jeno, but something about him, much like Renjun, seemed strange.

"He still looks as happy as ever." 

Jeno nearly jumped when he heard Donghyuck's voice from behind him. The other senior grinned, knowing that he had surprised Jeno. 

Donghyuck waved at Renjun when he passed through the gates that lead into the school. Renjun waved back with his free hand, despite Jaemin trying to drag him away. Jaemin never looked at them as he passed through the gates with Renjun.

"Good morning Jeno!" Renjun called, still getting dragged away. Donghyuck and Mark both raised an eyebrow at the action and Jisung let out a surprised gasp.

"Good morning Renjun!" Jeno replied, smiling at the Chinese boy. Jaemin immediately stopped walking once he heard Jeno's reply and he turned back to glare right at Jeno. 

It was a glare that sent shivers up Jeno's spine. Even though they hadn't been formally introduced yet, Jeno already knew he was on Jaemin's bad side. Jeno knew that the other boy was protective over Renjun, but he wasn't expecting this intensity. 

It was almost kind of cute. It was like Jaemin was Renjun's knight in shining armor. 

Except Jeno didn't want him to be that. 

"I can't believe Renjun actually said hi to you." Mark said, watching as Renjun and Jaemin walked further into the campus, in the direction of the senior building.

"He waved at Donghyuck though, so what's the big deal with him saying hi to me?" Jeno asked, seeing Chenle running towards the gates of the school. He nearly slipped near the gates and Jisung let out a laugh.

"Renjun verbally said hi to you when he was with Jaemin, which is actually a miracle. I've known him since we were kids and he never did anything like that before. He knows it could make Jaemin mad." Mark explained as Jisung filled Chenle in on what had just happened. The two juniors wouldn't stop talking about how amazing it was. 

Jeno sighed, still not quite understanding what Donghyuck and Mark were talking about. He and Renjun were friends, so it was perfectly normal for the two to greet each other at school. 

"See you guys later at lunch." Jeno waved goodbye Chenle and Jisung before they ran off to the junior building. 

The three seniors then separated, all having different morning classes to attend. From his locker, Jeno could see Renjun and Jaemin talking down the hallway. Renjun was busy taking off his jacket and Jaemin was helping him, as if the other boy  couldn't do it himself. Jaemin also took Renjun's textbooks out of his locker for him and rather than putting them in Renjun's arms, Jaemin was holding them for him.

Jeno scrunched up his nose in distaste at the sight. 

Renjun had already said that they weren't dating, but everything Jaemin did for Renjun seemed so intimate. As if they were in their own little world and nothing could interrupt them.

Jaemin had his arm around Renjun's shoulder as they walked down the hall together. Jaemin made sure to walk on the other side of the hallway, away from Jeno. However, they still passed by Jeno's locker and that was when Jeno caught sight of something shiny around Jaemin's wrist. 

It was a silver bracelet that looked awfully expensive. 

Jeno glanced at Renjun's wrist, frowning when he realized that the smaller boy was once again wearing sleeves that were too long for his arms. 

Before Jeno had time to dwindle on his thoughts, the first warning bell rang throughout the hallway and that meant that he needed to hurry to get to his first class of the day. He let out a sigh and quickly shut his locker, making his way to his Chemistry class.

He still had a chance of seeing Renjun later in the day, in their classes after lunch.

-

"I hate Na Jaemin." Donghyuck announced during lunch, with his mouth stuffed with food. Jeno laughed at Mark's disgusted face before nodding his head, listening as Donghyuck continued to rant.

"He was gone for one whole week and he still gets an A on the quiz we had earlier. I hate him." Donghyuck grumbled, recalling the earlier events that happened during their English class. Renjun and Mark were also in that class.

Mark shrugged, "I mean, all you have to do in that class is read the book and take the quizzes."

"Don’t defend him, Mark. He's our sworn enemy." Donghyuck replied, rolling his eyes at his best friend. 

Jeno took a bite of his food, his eyes glancing back and forth between Donghyuck and Mark as they were busy discussing Na Jaemin. Donghyuck had informed Jeno earlier that Jaemin and Renjun had the same exact schedule, meaning Jeno would be sharing three classes with Jaemin after lunch.

"Renjun ge is here!" Chenle whispered, poking Jeno in the arm to call for his attention. 

The senior turned to stare at the entrance of the cafeteria, where Renjun and Jaemin were standing. Renjun glanced over at the table he had sat at the previous week and he smiled directly at Jeno, raising a hand up to wave at him as well. 

It made Jeno's heart flutter. 

"And again, Renjun risked it all just to say hi to Jeno." Mark commented, watching as Jaemin turned to see who Renjun had smiled at. 

Jaemin caught sight of Jeno and for the second time that day, started to glare at him. He quickly took Renjun's hand, dragging him over to the line to buy some food for lunch. Jeno let out a sigh, observing the way Jaemin kept Renjun close to him. He really was overprotective. 

"Renjun will come hang out with us again when Jaemin's out of school. Don't worry too much about it, Jeno." Donghyuck informed him and Jeno nodded his head, turning his attention back to his food. 

His new friends never mentioned Renjun or Jaemin throughout the rest of their lunch time. Instead, they talked about other things such as video games and homework. Jeno tried his best to keep up with their conversation, but the thought of Renjun plagued his mind. 

After lunch, Jeno walked alone to his Art History class. It was a bit lonely without Renjun to walk with, but there was nothing he could do about the fact that Jaemin was back. Renjun and Jaemin were best friends... and Jeno was just the new kid at school that needed some friends to talk to until he graduated. 

Once he reached the classroom, Jeno caught sight of Renjun sitting in his usual seat. During his first week at school, Jeno was lucky enough to sit next to Renjun in this particular class. However today, Jaemin was seated in his former seat. They looked like they were busy discussing something, but the one things that slightly bothered Jeno was seeing Jaemin resting his head on Renjun's shoulder. 

Without saying a word, Jeno moved to an open seat in the row behind Renjun. He was sitting right behind Jaemin, but from his seat, Jeno still had a good view of Renjun.

"So, you're Lee Jeno, the new kid, right?" Jaemin had suddenly turned around, surprising both Jeno and Renjun. Jeno dumbly nodded his head, hearing Jaemin's voice for the first time. He could feel the animosity dripping from Jaemin's voice, it almost felt like Jaemin was mocking him. 

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Na Jaemin, though I’m sure Mark and Donghyuck already told you about me.” Jaemin was smiling, but his smile but anything but friendly. 

“It’s nice to meet you too…” Jeno’s eyes wavered and he found himself glancing over to Renjun, who looked just as worried as he did. 

“Anyways, thanks for keeping Renjun company while I was sick. You won’t have to do that anymore.” Jaemin said, still smiling at Jeno. His smile then faded and he turned back around, facing the front of the class. Jeno opened his mouth to say something to Renjun, but the bell then rang, interrupting Jeno. 

Renjun smiled apologetically at Jeno before turning around to face the board. Their teacher then walked in, leaving Jeno to sit in silence and boredom throughout the lecture. Since he was sitting right behind Jaemin, Jeno kept staring at the other boy’s back. Jaemin would occasionally lean over to whisper something in Renjun’s ear, and the other senior would either smile or gently push Jaemin’s head away to get him to focus on the lecture. 

Renjun still looked incredibly tired and almost sickly, but he never turned Jaemin away. Jeno could see that Renjun struggled to pay attention and take notes in class, while Jaemin was busy writing down everything their teacher said. Jeno wondered what was wrong with Renjun. This wasn't like him at all.

But with Jaemin around, he doubted he was going to have the opportunity to ask. 

Once Art History was finished, Jeno made his way to the gymnasium where Mark was already waiting. Jeno quickly changed into his uniform, spotting Jaemin and Renjun in the locker room, changing as well. Jeno knew better than to stare, so he left the locker room as soon as he was finished changing his clothes. 

“Okay kids, we’re going to be sharing the gymnasium with the juniors today. Either walk laps and play basketball.” The teacher had said as the juniors that had P.E. started to enter the gymnasium. Jeno saw that Chenle and Jisung entered the gymnasium as well, meaning that they were probably all going to hang out together. 

Chenle approached the two seniors with a basketball in his hands, "Let's play!"

"Should we place a bet?" Mark said, grinning at the younger students.

"Loser team has to buy the winning team lunch tomorrow?" Jisung suggested and both Mark and Jeno agreed to those terms. 

Playing basketball with his friends was a good distraction for Jeno. Having Renjun and Jaemin in his last three classes of the day was going to be a bit difficult, especially with the fact that Jaemin was not going to let Renjun out of his sight. From the corner of his eye, Jeno could see that Jaemin and Renjun were walking around the track together, talking about who-knows-what. Jaemin had that bright smile on his face that Jeno saw when he first Jaemin. He had a feeling that it was a smile reserved for Renjun and Renjun alone. 

"Jeno hyung! Watch out!" A voice had suddenly called out.

 Suddenly, all Jeno could feel was pain and a throbbing sensation in the back of his head. He fell to his knees, gripping his head as he tried to deal with the pain. He wasn't bleeding, but he definitely wasn't feeling great.

"Jeno, are you okay?" 

"Someone go get some ice!"

"I'm sorry hyung! I thought you were looking!"

There were so many clamoring voices surrounding the senior, it was almost too overwhelming to sort through the voice. Jeno opened his eyes and saw that his friends were around him, staring at him with worried looks on their faces.

"What happened to Jeno?"

Jeno looked up and saw Renjun staring down at him with the same concerned look on his face that his friends had. Renjun squatted down, taking a better look at Jeno's head to make sure nothing was bleeding.

Jeno glanced behind Renjun and saw Jaemin standing at the track, staring at Renjun with a strange gaze in his eyes. For some reason, he appeared to be incredibly sad.

"You need to go to the nurse, Jeno. Come on, I'll take you." Mark helped Jeno up to his feet. Renjun also stood up still staring at Jeno.

"Hopefully I'll be able to see you in Physics." Was all Renjun said before walking back over to where Jaemin was waiting. 

Mark quickly made his way over to their teacher to inform him of what had just happened. After getting permission to leave the gymnasium, Mark and Jeno walked over to the nurse's office, which was fairly close by. 

When they reached the nurse's office, Mark stopped at the door and turned to Jeno, "Have you ever heard about the legend of the Moonchild, Jeno?" 

Jeno blinked, not sure if he was imagining the conversation or if he had heard Mark incorrectly. 

"The what?" Jeno asked, staring at Mark as if he was talking about something crazy.

"Just... never mind. Forget I said anything." Mark sighed and opened the door to the nurse's office, letting Jeno walk in ahead of him. Jeno shut his mouth, but he couldn't help but think about what Mark had just mentioned to him.

What the heck was the legend of the Moonchild?

-

In Physics, Jeno was once again separated from Renjun. He and Jaemin were seated at the front of the class, while Jeno was left with the only seat available in the very back. Luckily enough, the lecture only involved individual work, so Jeno did not have to worry about finding a partner to do anything. 

One thought that kept running through Jeno’s mind was what Mark had previously said to him when at the nurse’s office. It must have been important, especially because Mark brushed off the subject so easily. The legend of whatever the heck seemed to much like a fantasy. 

What was a Moonchild? A kid from the moon? That was impossible. 

His head was starting to pound, so Jeno found himself barely paying attention to the lecture that his teacher was giving. He must have been hit really hard during P.E., but hopefully the headache would go away by the time he got home.

Suddenly Jeno could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, and despite knowing he was not allowed to have his phone out in class, he took it out anyway. On the screen, Jeno saw a few notifications from the groupchat he was in with his new friends.

_[SENIORS + the kids]_

**Jisung** : can anyone stay with me after school in the library? )):   
 **Mark** : no   
 **Donghyuck** : no   
 **Chenle** : sorry i have to walk my neighbor's dog   
 **Jisung** : TRAITORS    
 **Jisung** : all of u   
 **Jeno** : hey, i can stay with you if you want?   
 **Jisung** : YES thank you jeno hyung!!!   
 **Jeno:**  no problem, did you just want to meet up at the library when school is over?   
 **Jisung** **:**  yes please! 

Letting out a sigh, Jeno placed his phone back into his pocket. Staying after school with Jisung would probably keep his mind off of everything that was happening around him. It would hopefully also lessen his intense headache he was still experiencing due to getting his in the head during his P.E. class. He hadn't had the chance to visit the library yet despite having gone to the school for a week already. Physics was his last class of the day anyway, so he wouldn't have to wait long until he would see Jisung.

Looking ahead, Jeno spotted Renjun and Jaemin talking amongst themselves in the front row. Jaemin was resting his head on Renjun's shoulder again and it appeared as if Renjun didn't mind at all. It was like they were in perfect sync with each other. 

He could tell that Jaemin and Renjun had a special relationship. It was like Renjun knew exactly what Jaemin was thinking and vice versa.

It was Jaemin's first day back at school and Jeno was already wishing for him to leave. 

Jeno never felt such detest for another person before. He was sure Jaemin was probably a nice person, but something about him (and Renjun) was so incredibly off. 

 But these feelings were probably just due to his headache. 

-

"Jeno hyuuuuuuuuuuuuung!" Jisung was waving his hands at the senior excitedly while standing at the entrance of the library. Jeno was thankful that Donghyuck sent him in the right direction towards the library after their classes ended. The library was located in the junior building for some reason, meaning Jeno would probably never visit it unless necessary. 

"Thank you so much for staying with me. I promise I won't be long." Jisung said, slightly bouncing on his feet. 

Jeno waved a hand, following the younger boy into the library, "It's fine, really. I'm going to be doing some Chemistry homework anyway so you can take your time." 

"You should look around the library while you're here! The school's library is actually pretty cool and the librarian isn't boring like librarians normally are." Jisung said, spotting an empty table in the middle of the library. There were at least ten tables in the middle of the library and almost most of them were occupied already. Jeno assumed most students chose to stay after school to do their homework.

"Oh, you're here today Jisung?" An unknown voice said once the senior and junior sat at the table. Jeno looked up from his seat and saw a young man carrying multiple books in his arms. He was wearing round glasses, though they were slipping from his nose due to the weight in his arms. 

"I have a history project due next week, so I thought it was probably a good idea to start it." Jisung grinned up at the young man.

"And I'm assuming this is a new student?" The young man, glancing at Jeno with a small smile on his face.

"This is Lee Jeno, a new senior! And Jeno hyung, this is Moon Taeil, the school librarian." Jisung said, introducing the two to each other. 

The young librarian smiled once more at Jeno, "I would reach to shake your hand, but I don't want to drop all these books on you. Just let me know if you ever need help finding a book." 

The librarian then walked off and Jeno watched him struggle with the pile of books in his arms. Jisung then started to unpack his bag, taking out whatever he needed for his project.

"You should look around first before you start doing your homework. Maybe you can learn a few things about our small little town in the Local History section in the back of the library." The junior suggested, pointing his index finger over to the rows of bookshelves that surrounded the tables. Jeno wasn't much of a reader but learning about the town he now lived in was tempting. He still had five months left anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to learn a few things.

"I'll be back." Jeno said, standing from his seat as quietly as he could as to not disturb the other people in the library. Jisung waved his hand, letting the senior wander off to the back of the library. 

The library was huge, considering the fact that it was just a high school library. There were rows and rows of bookshelves, Jeno found himself almost getting lost in the books. Everything was carefully organized, it made Jeno wonder if the librarian ever had problems keeping the books in order. 

After a few more moments of aimless wandering, Jeno finally got to the Local History section. It was a small section, only encompassing one bookshelf amongst the hundreds. Jeno spotted a few books about the town's history, the plantation that used to thrive on the land, and even the high school. 

One book in particular was sticking out to Jeno. Carefully, the senior tipped the spine of the book back to take it off of the shelf. The book looked ancient, so Jeno wanted to make sure he didn't damage it in any way. 

The book appeared to be old, but someone was definitely looking through it. Flipping through the pages quickly, Jeno spotted several corners folded, as if to bookmark these pages. 

"The Legends of the Past." Jeno read the title of the book aloud, squinting slightly at the fading ink across the book's cover. 

Jeno stared at the book for a moment, not sure why he picked it out of the many on the shelf. 

_Have you ever heard about the legend of the Moonchild, Jeno?_

Mark's question from earlier resonated in Jeno's head and instantly, his headache reappeared. Jeno grimaced through the pain, but opened the book to see if what Mark had mentioned earlier was even real. 

The first page had a table of contents which listed various legends of the town. This book was obviously written in the past, because there some things listed that didn't make any sense. 

Vampires, werewolves, and big foot weren't real. 

Jeno's eyes continued to scan the page and at the very end of the list was exactly what he was looking for.

**The Legend of the Child from the Moon**

It was listed as the last legend in the book, so Jeno quickly turned the pages until he reached the final section of the book. On the first page of ten for the section, there was a drawing of a crescent moon with what appeared to be two small children sitting on the moon. They were holding hands. 

There was nothing to read on this page, so Jeno turned to the next page which was full of words.

_The legend of the child of the moon, also known as the moonchild, has been passed through generations upon generations. Two particular families have been tied to each other since the beginning of time. These families are not related, but they are cursed to belong to one another until the end. The Huang Family, hailing from China, is to produce one child everyone one hundred years, to be the moon child. The Na family from South Korea is to do the same, except this child is expected to serve the moon child until they die. These families will never be able to break apart this bond. If the families do not bear these_ _children every one hundred years, dire consequences will be carried out. The families will know when it is time to bear the children, as they will all receive dreams from the moon._

_On the moonchild's first birthday, he or she will be presented to the Temple of the Moon in China to receive his or her bracelet. This bracelet is to never leave his or her wrist. The servant must be born within the first year of the moonchild's birth. On the servant's first birthday, he or she will be presented at the Alter of the Moon in South Korea to receive his or her bracelet as well._

_Without these bracelets, the life span of both the moonchild and servant will greatly weaken._

Jeno's eyes scanned the page, taking in all of the information with a slight frown on his face. This legend sounded much more like a curse, even the book called it a curse. He turned to the next page, seeing more to read.

_The moonchild lives off of the life of the servant. If the servant is feeling ill, the moonchild is thriving. If the servant is in perfect health, the moonchild is suffering lack of energy. They must find a balance between each other in order to live adequately. When the two are apart, they both find themselves to be extremely weak. Separating the two is not advised, especially if it crosses the borders of a country._

_The parents of the two must be willing to keep them together, for it is in the better sake of the moonchild and servant._

There was another picture of the moon at the bottom of the page and under was another illustration of two children. It was a very realistic picture and the main focus of it was the two bracelets that the children were wearing. Jeno took a closer look, but the picture was a bit too blurry for him to see any specific details about the bracelets.

"Oh, did you find something that interested you?" 

Jeno jumped from surprise at the sudden voice talking to him. He shut the book and looked over to his right, seeing the librarian smiling at him. He was pushing a cart of books around.

"Kind of. Legends have always interested me.” Jeno lied, with a bright smile on his face. The librarian hummed softly, seeming to be pleased with the senior’s answer.

“Just let me know if you need help finding any other books.” Taeil walked away with a knowing smile on his face, making Jeno feel a bit uneasy. 

Jeno turned back to the book, returning to the page that he had been reading. 

_Unfortunately, it is possible for_ _the curse_ _to take the lives of both the moonchild and servant._ _Since the two will live off of each other’s life source, the servant may die when the moonchild falls in love._ _If the moonchild falls in love, there is a chance that all of his or her energy will go towards the one that they have fallen for._

_As stated earlier, the servant serves the moonchild until death, even if it means_ _the death of the servant._

The next page continued on.

_However, there has been an exception in the pas_ _t. If the moonchild were to fall in love with the servant—_

The words ended there, due to the fact that the page had been ripped and taken out of the book. Jeno flipped through the rest of the pages of the section, finding only more illustrations of the moon and two children. The page that had been removed had the last of the information on it. 

Frowning slightly, Jeno returned the book onto the shelf, not sure if he understood all of the information on it.

It sounded just like Renjun and Jaemin. Everything, even the bracelets, sounded like Renjun and Jaemin.

 Jeno stared at the book for a moment, debating with himself on whether or not he wanted to borrow the book for the night and memorize what it had said about the moonchild and servant. He also wanted to talk to Mark about this, considering the fact that he was the one that had first brought up the subject. 

But what would he even do?

If Renjun and Jaemin really were the moonchild and the servant, what could he do? Also, who was who? Was Renjun the servant or the moonchild? Was Jaemin the moonchild or the servant? He had no way to tell unless he asked them and he definitely didn't want to do that. However, according to the book, it was Renjun that was the moonchild and Jaemin was the servant. Unless they had somehow traded surnames, that was the only case possible. 

"I'm probably just overthinking." Jeno sighed and walked away from the small section of books, returning to the table where Jisung was busy reading through his textbook. The table was covered with the junior's notes and other materials he needed for his project. Jeno smiled at the sight before taking his seat, reaching into his backpack to get his Chemistry homework to work on. 

He needed to push the thought of Renjun and Jaemin out of his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait
> 
> stream we go up

Later that night, Jeno found himself thinking about Renjun once more. They had only known each other for a week, but Jeno already wanted to spend even more time with him. Ever since the night of the sleepover at Mark's house, Jeno couldn't get the image of Renjun looking up at the moon out of his head. It was a breathtaking sight and Jeno wanted to see it again. 

Everything about Renjun was so captivating, but Jeno knew that he had just scratched the surface of Renjun's personality. He would have to get through Na Jaemin if he wanted to get closer to Renjun and Jeno had a feeling that was going to be extremely difficult. 

He was tempted to become friends with Jaemin, but that would be easier said than done. It was clear that Jaemin wanted nothing to do with him, especially because of the way he had introduced himself to Jeno earlier in the day. 

Did his own presence threaten Jaemin? Or was it something else?

Before Jeno could get lost in his thoughts, he saw his phone light up, meaning a notification was waiting for him. His eyes widened at the sight of who had just contacted him.

_[Huang_ _Renjun_ _has sent you a message!]_

**Renjun** : jeno?   
 **Renjun** : sorry this message was random   
 **Renjun** : and i know it's late, but are you free right now?

Jeno glanced at the clock in his room. It was only 7:03 PM, which wasn't that late at all.

 **Jeno** : hey renjun   
 **Jeno** : don't worry about the time, it's still pretty early   
 **Jeno** : i'm free, did you need something?   
 **Renjun** : do you want to come explore the forest with me?    
 **Renjun** : it's not that cold tonight and the moon is pretty    
 **Jeno** : ...the moon does look pretty tonight. where should we meet?   
 **Renjun** : let's meet at the forest in twenty minutes

Jeno stared at his phone, surprised that Renjun had contacted him this late at night. Renjun didn’t seem like the kind of person to want to go exploring at night, so there must have been a good reason for him to message Jeno. The senior was still dressed in his school uniform, so he quickly changed into some jeans and a hoodie before grabbing his winter jacket to wear outside. January was still cold. 

His parents were watching television in their living room when Jeno made his way downstairs. When they asked where he was going, Jeno replied with a small smile saying that he was going to meet up with one of his friends. His parents were very lenient with him, so they let him go out. 

The forest was a short fifteen-minute walk away. The forest wasn’t that big, but it did take up a significant amount of land from the town. It was especially cold, so Jeno hugged his jacket closer to his body, trying to keep warm. It hadn’t snowed in a few days, so the sidewalks were clear as Jeno walked to the forest. 

He was surprised that Renjun had even contacted him. From what Mark and Donghyuck had told him, it seemed as if Renjun kept to himself whenever Jaemin was around. But there was also a possibility that Jaemin was with Renjun, waiting for him at the forest. Those two definitely seemed to be attached at the hip. 

Once Jeno finally reached the forest, he saw Renjun waiting for him at what looked like the start of a path. Renjun’s face lit up when he spotted Jeno, and he raised his hands and waved, “Jeno!”

“Hey Renjun.” Jeno smiled as he stepped closer to the shorter boy, noticing how Renjun was wearing a jacket that was a bit too big for him, it didn’t look like it belonged to him.

It was probably Jaemin’s. 

“Sorry for asking you to come out so late. I wasn’t sure when I would get the chance to explore again.” Renjun smiled sheepishly, looking up at Jeno happily. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, so Jeno was able to see his face much more than the last few days. He was cute,  _very_ cute. He didn’t look as pale as he did earlier, which greatly relieved Jeno. He still wasn’t over how sick Renjun appeared to be at school. 

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t doing much anyways.” Jeno replied, glancing at the pathway that led into the forest. It was dark out and it made the forest seem a bit more intimidating. 

Renjun followed Jeno’s gaze and smiled, “I know the forest well, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost inside.”

Jeno just grinned and he let Renjun lead the way inside of the forest. The trees were beautiful and unlike anything he had ever seen before in the city. He had grown up in Seoul, meaning the busy city life was all he had ever known. Living in a small town like this made him realize how much of pure nature he was actually missing in his life. Even though the sun had already set, the moon in the sky was bright enough to illuminate the path that Jeno and Renjun were on.

It was a full moon. And Renjun was right, it did look pretty tonight. 

The path leading into the forest was a dirt path and more than once Jeno found himself stumbling over rocks and branches that lay on the ground. Renjun appeared to be fine on the path, so Jeno could tell that this wasn’t his first time in the forest.

“So, of all the people you could have asked, why did you choose me to go exploring with you?” Jeno asked, following Renjun’s steps carefully. 

Renjun suddenly stopped walking, almost causing Jeno to walk right into him. The shorter boy turned around and smiled at Jeno, “You were the first person that came to mind when I decided I wanted to go out to the forest tonight.”

Again, Renjun made Jeno’s chest swell up with some kind of emotion he couldn’t quite name yet. 

Jeno just nodded his head at the answer, feeling satisfied with what the other senior had said. The two continued walking deeper into the forest together, stopping occasionally for Renjun to tell Jeno about the trees or the wildlife that was growing in the forest. Along the way, they were able to spot some animals that were minding their own business. There were some rabbits hopping along the path, as if they were leading Renjun and Jeno further into the forest. 

The two seniors talked quietly amongst themselves as they walked together. It was mostly just Renjun asking Jeno questions about how he was adjusting to school and living in a small town. They talked briefly about their mutual friends for a while, talking about how carefree Donghyuck was and how Mark typically kept him grounded and under control. 

“So why does everyone seem to hate Jaemin so much?” The words escaped Jeno’s lips before he had even thought about what he was saying. Renjun let out a sigh at fist and Jeno immediately knew he had stepped into a sensitive topic.

“Donghyuck and the others... can’t really understand why Jaemin is the way he is. I’m really the only person that Jaemin has in his life, so I guess you can say that he’s just scared of losing me.” Renjun said softly, looking straight ahead at the path. 

“So then if he’s so unwilling to let you hang out with the others, why are you going out of your way to spend time with me? Won’t Jaemin be upset?” Jeno continued on with his questioning, realizing that now was probably the only time he would be able to ask Renjun these questions. He probably wasn’t going to have the chance to talk to Renjun about this again. He just wanted to know what Renjun was thinking, that’s all.

Renjun paused for a moment before replying to Jeno, “I think you’re worth the risk, I guess. Jaemin would never actually hurt anybody, he’s all bark and no bite. You shouldn’t be afraid to talk to me around him.”

Jeno could feel his cheeks flush at Renjun’s words, not quite understanding if Renjun meant them romantically or platonically. After all, they had only known each other for a little over a week, so it was possible that Renjun only meant that he wanted to be friends. 

Yeah, that’s probably all Renjun meant. 

“Jaemin really won’t hurt me? Or attack me? Or trip me in the hallways?” Jeno asked.

“No, he wouldn’t dare hurt you or the others. He knows that would make me upset. He might try to trip you in the hallways though. Watch out for that.” Renjun replied jokingly, causing Jeno to smile. 

Renjun had led him further into the forest, until they had stopped at what looked like a small water reservoir. It wasn’t quite big enough to be considered a lake, but it was definitely bigger than a pond. There was a small pagoda at one side of the reservoir and Renjun had insisted that the two take a break at it. 

Jeno could tell that it was an old pagoda, looking at the architecture and the paint work of it. The red paint on the roof was fading, but somehow it still looked magnificent under the moonlight. 

“I used to sneak out and come to this place a lot as a kid. Jaemin would normally come with me.” Renjun said, taking a seat on the floor of the pagoda. In the center of the roof, there was a wide opening and the full moon was completely visible from it. Jeno sat down on the floor as well and stared up at the moon with Renjun.

“Have the others been to this place?” Jeno asked, letting out a yawn as he laid down on the floor of the pagoda, feeling a bit tired from all the walking he had just done. 

“Hmm, I haven’t taken them here with me, but it’s possible they’ve been here on their own. There’s not much to do in this small town anyways.” Renjun replied, smiling at Jeno. He also laid himself back, staring up at the opening in the roof with wide eyes. 

“I like this small town. I made friends a lot faster than I thought I would.” Jeno said, watching as Renjun focused his gaze on the moon.

“And I’m one of them, right Jeno?” Renjun said softly, not taking his attention off of the moon.

“Of course, Renjun.”

-

The next day at school before his first class started, Jeno spotted Jaemin and Renjun talking amongst themselves at Jaemin’s locker. Unlike yesterday, it was Jaemin that appeared to be sick, rather than Renjun. The other senior looked completely drained of energy and Renjun had to keep a hold on his arm to keep him steady. He had bloodshot eyes as well, and even Jeno found himself feeling concerned for him.

Was this the curse of the moonchild and the servant? Or was Jeno just hallucinating?

“I’m  _fine_ , Injun. I can handle being at school today.” 

“No, you  _can’t_ , Jaemin. You need to go home. My father can come and pick you up to take you home.”

“He just got back from a business trip. I don’t want to bother him.”

“Then just stay in the nurse’s office until you can stand on your own two feet. I can’t carry you forever.” 

Jeno didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but he was so attuned to Renjun that he couldn’t help but listen to them as they passed by him, seemingly on their way to the nurse’s office. Renjun didn’t notice him at all. His attention was all on Jaemin.

“That’s strange, Jaemin’s already feeling sick? He’s only been back for one day.” Jeno jumped at the sound of Donghyuck’s voice suddenly appearing behind him. He turned around and saw the shorter senior leaning against the locker next to his. He also spotted Mark making his way over to them as well.

“What’s happening?” Was all Mark said when he saw the looks on Donghyuck and Mark’s faces. 

“Jaemin’s sick already. Renjun is bringing him to the nurse because that fool doesn’t know what rest means.” Donghyuck replied, letting out a sigh. Mark just hummed, glancing at Jeno before dismissing himself to make his way to his class. 

Jeno stared at Mark’s retreating figure as he walked away, resisting the urge to call him to come back. He wanted to ask Mark about what he knew about the legend of the moonchild, but he would have a better opportunity later when they had their P.E. class together.

After saying goodbye to Donghyuck, Jeno walked to his first class of the day alone. He was tempted to message Renjun and ask how Jaemin was doing, but that probably wasn’t a good idea. He seemed very worried about his friend and any outsider prying for answers may not be ideal for the senior. 

Jeno knew better than to let this issue take over his thoughts, so for his first three classes he tried his best to concentrate on what he needed to do for school. Just because he was only spending five months in this school didn’t mean he was allowed to slack off and not do well. He still needed to worry about getting into a good university or else his parents were going to be upset. 

However, halfway through his Biology lecture, Jeno found himself thinking about the time he had spent with Renjun the night before. The two had spent an hour, laying in the pagoda with each other, while watching the moon above them. They talked about a lot of things, such as their likes and dislikes, what teachers were nice and which weren’t, their family, their friends, and a few other personal topics. Even though they had only known each other for a little over a week, Jeno felt as if he had known Renjun for a much longer time period. Spending that time with him in the forest made Jeno realize that Renjun was more than just a mysterious boy from school. 

He was someone that cared about his friends. He was someone that was fond of Moomin. He was someone that loved art. 

Renjun had opened up about how it was sometimes hard being Jaemin’s friend. He truly did want to hang out with Donghyuck and the others, but Jaemin was apparently not welcome by them due to how he treated them as they grew up. Jaemin and Donghyuck definitely didn’t get along and the two had known each other since they were children. Mark was able to tolerate Jaemin, since he was relatively new to the friend group, but he didn’t go out of his way to talk to the other senior. 

However, Renjun didn’t want to end his friendship with Jaemin. 

Renjun mentioned how he had known Jaemin since he was born and that the two were inseparable. Jaemin was always around whenever Renjun needed him, and vice versa. It would be too painful to break apart a bond like that. 

Everything Renjun said about Jaemin, was said in a very platonic manner. It was clear the two were only friends. 

Jeno didn’t bother Renjun with questions about Jaemin. He was just happy to spend time with him. He had offered to walk Renjun home when they had left the forest, but Renjun said that he lived on the farther edge of town and that it would probably be too much for Jeno. Instead, Renjun thanked Jeno for visiting the forest with him and promised to see him tomorrow at school.

Unfortunately, due to how Jaemin was feeling earlier, Renjun hadn’t said anything to him yet today. Hopefully that would change after lunch.

As soon as his Biology class was over, Jeno rushed out of class and towards to his locker. The hallway was full of other seniors, trying to hurry to the cafeteria to get some food for lunch. He knew Donghyuck and Mark were probably already sitting at their usual table, so Jeno didn’t have to rush. Along the way to the cafeteria, Jeno spotted Chenle and Jisung walking in the same direction. He quickly caught up with the juniors and they all walked together towards the cafeteria. 

“Donghyuck hyung told me that Jaemin hyung is feeling sick. Is he alright?” Jisung said, sounding worried for the senior.

Jeno shrugged his shoulders, not sure what to say, “Renjun brought him to the nurse’s office earlier before the first class started. I don’t know if he’s feeling any better.”

Once they arrived at the cafeteria, they saw that Mark and Donghyuck were already sitting at their usual table and much to Jeno’s surprise, Renjun was at the table as well. From the frown on Renjun’s face, it looked like he and Donghyuck were having an argument. Donghyuck didn’t look pleased either and Jeno felt oddly out of place when he approached the table and heard them talking.

“Why can’t you just sit with us today? It won’t hurt.” Donghyuck urged, glaring up at Renjun. 

“Listen, it’s fine. I’m just going to eat with Jaemin in the nurse’s office. I don’t want to leave him there alone and I know he won’t eat unless someone forces him to.” Renjun said, letting out a sigh when Donghyuck rolled his eyes at him. The Chinese boy looked back at Mark, who just tried his best to smile at him. 

“Donghyuck, just let Renjun eat lunch with Jaemin.” Mark chided the younger senior, but Donghyuck just rolled his eyes again.

“I’ll sit with you guys next time. I promise.” Renjun said, smiling at Chenle and Jisung when they took a seat at the table. The two juniors smiled back, unaffected by the on-going tension between the seniors. 

“I need to go buy some food for Jaemin and I, so I’ll see you all later.” Renjun waved his hand at his friends, his gaze lingering on Jeno for a moment longer than necessary, before walking over to the line to get food. Donghyuck let out a sigh once the Chinese boy was out of earshot before glaring at Mark.

“You always take Renjun’s side.”

“Yeah, well, Renjun tends to be the more levelheaded one.”

Chenle and Jisung laughed at Donghyuck’s distressed face and the table quickly returned back to their normal antics. Jeno tried his best to focus on what everyone was talking about, but he found himself to be distracted by Renjun, again. He kept glancing over to where Renjun had gotten in line to get food, hoping to see him before he was going to leave the cafeteria. 

Minutes later, Renjun finally emerged from the line holding two trays of food and he seemed to be having a difficult time balancing the two trays. He probably wasn't going to make it far before dropping one. 

“I’ll see you guys later in class.” Jeno said, gathering his backpack and stuff together before anyone had the chance to question him. He quickly made his way over to Renjun, smiling as he took one of the trays from him.

“Jeno— What are you doing?” Renjun’s eyes widened as he looked up at Jeno, who just kept smiling.

“You were definitely going to drop one of these. I’ll help you carry this to the nurse’s office.” Jeno simply said, already walking towards the doors of the cafeteria. Renjun followed after him, making sure not to drop the tray he was holding.

The two walked side by side to one another to the nurse's office and Jeno could feel Renjun occasionally glancing at him. Their footsteps echoed in the hallway with every step they took. Jeno wanted to say something, anything to Renjun, but he wasn’t sure of what to say at all. He was more nervous about meeting Jaemin again. 

Once they reached the nurse’s office, Jeno opened the door for Renjun to let him in. Renjun smiled and mumbled a soft “thank you” before stepping inside. 

“Jaemin, I’m back with food.” The Chinese boy said as he entered the nurse’s office. Jeno noticed that nurse wasn’t in her office, probably because it was lunch time. 

“You took so long, Injun….” Jaemin’s voice called out once he caught sight of him walking in. Jeno could hear the adoration in Jaemin’s voice when calling out to Renjun. However once Jeno was visible, his tone immediately changed “Wait, what’s this guy doing here?”

“Hi Jaemin.” Jeno said, smiling to be polite. Jaemin, who was sitting up on the bed in the nurse’s office, only replied with a sharp glare. Renjun let out a sigh, walking closer to Jaemin to reach a hand out to pinch his cheek. 

“Be nice, Jaemin. Jeno was just helping me carry your lunch here.” Renjun explained, carefully placing the tray of food on Jaemin’s lap. Jeno passed him the other tray, which was meant for him. There was a small table on Jaemin’s bedside, which Renjun used to hold his tray.  

“Thank you, I guess.” Jaemin replied, staring down at the food instead of up at Jeno. 

“Did you have to buy your lunch today, Jeno?” Renjun asked as Jeno stood at the end of the bed, shifting his weight back and forth between his left and right leg. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to leave Jaemin and Renjun alone, or if he wanted to stay with them. 

“I brought my lunch with me today.” Jeno responded, smiling at Renjun. 

Renjun nodded his head, “Did you want to stay with me and Jaemin for lunch then? There’s an empty chair on the other side of the bed.”

Jaemin made a noise of protest, but Renjun just pat his arm gently, silently telling him to let Jeno stay with them. Jeno hesitated for a moment before making his way over to the chair Renjun was referring to. 

“Are you feeling alright Jaemin?” Jeno asked, staring at the boy laying in the bed. Jaemin didn’t reply, and opted to play with his chopsticks instead. 

“Jaemin. Answer him.” Renjun ordered, glancing between Jaemin and Jeno. 

Jaemin sighed and turned towards Jeno with a gaze as harsh as his icy tone, “I’m not doing so great, as you can see.” 

Jeno’s lips flattened into a tight smile, remaining as civil as he could despite Jaemin’s less than polite attitude. Renjun poked Jaemin’s cheek with his own pair of chopsticks, pouting at him. 

“Sorry, Injun. I’ll try to be nicer.” Jaemin said once he caught sight of Renjun’s sullen expression. Renjun immediately brightened and he turned to Jeno once more.

“I want you two to be friends with each other. I think you both would get along pretty well.” The Chinese boy said, smiling at Jeno.

Jeno felt his face heat up at the sight of Renjun’s smile that was directed towards him. He dumbly nodded his head, completely aware of the fact that he probably looked like an idiot, blushing over nothing. 

“I’ll try to be civil. We do have classes together anyway.” Jaemin finally started to eat his food. Albeit a bit slow, Jeno could see that the other senior was quite hungry. He still looked sickly, but it seemed as if eating a bit was helping him regain his complexion.

“Speaking of which, I don’t think you’re well enough to go back to class yet, Jaemin. It might be best for you to stay here until the end of the day when mother or father can come to pick us up.” Renjun said as he also started to eat his cafeteria-bought food. Jeno took this as a sign to start eating his food as well, which was packed away in his backpack. 

“But then you’ll be alone in class.” Was Jaemin’s reply, to which Renjun just shook his head before pointing a chopstick over towards Jeno.

“I’ll have Jeno with me. I’ll be fine, right Jeno?” Renjun said, a smile appearing on his face once again. 

Jeno, who was in the middle of chewing his food, nearly choked as he nodded his head. He smiled at Jaemin, as if to say that Renjun would be completely fine with him. Jaemin just glared at him. 

“Fine. Whatever.” Jaemin said, ignoring Jeno’s smile. 

The rest of the time Jeno spent with Renjun and Jaemin felt terribly awkward. Renjun would try to get Jaemin to talk to Jeno, but the former seemed to be so unwilling to. Jeno knew that it was going to take a long time for Jaemin to open up to him, which was okay. He was willing to get through this for Renjun’s sake. 

When their lunch time was finally over, Jeno gathered up Jaemin’s tray before taking Renjun’s as well. The Chinese boy offered to carry it himself, but Jeno insisted on carrying it, being the gentleman he normally is. It took a bit of convincing, but Renjun gave in and let him carry the trays instead. 

Renjun smiled and said thank you before patting Jeno’s arm gently, causing Jeno to smile as well, his eyes forming small crescents as they usually do when he smiles. 

Before the two of them could say anything to each other, Jaemin started coughing uncontrollably. Renjun’s eyes widened at the sound before immediately rushing to his friend’s side, offering him some water that he had in his own water bottle. Jaemin pushed the bottle away, before ultimately pushing Renjun away as well.

“Hurry and go to class.”

Renjun frowned at Jaemin’s command before nudging Jeno in the direction of the door. Jeno took a few steps towards the door, then he turned back to say, “Feel better soon, Jaemin.”

Jaemin waved a hand nonchalantly, acknowledging what Jeno had said as the two seniors stepped out of the nurse’s office. Renjun quietly walked next to Jeno while making their way over to the cafeteria to return the trays. Jeno wasn’t quite sure what to say to Renjun, especially because he seemed to be a bit upset about how Jaemin had reacted to him in the nurse’s office. 

“I guess this means I’m sitting with you today in Art History.” Jeno said once they reached the cafeteria. There were still a few people lingering around, buying a few snacks before it was time to get to class. 

“And you’re sitting with me in Physics too.” Renjun replied as Jeno returned the trays to their rightful place. 

“I made sure I had all the homework done, so I won’t have to copy you this time.” Jeno grinned, proud of the fact that he really did do all his homework. He got home late after exploring the forest with Renjun, but was able to finish everything he had to do. 

“Perfect! Because I definitely wasn’t going to let you copy me a second time.” Renjun responded, laughing when Jeno put on a fake hurt expression. The two then hurried towards the direction of their Art History class, which was luckily nearby the cafeteria. They were also lucky enough to get two seats next to each other in the classroom. 

During Art History, Jeno spent more time glancing over to see what Renjun was doing rather than paying attention to their teacher. Renjun was busying himself with drawing Moomin all over the margins of his notebook and when he ran out of space, he started to draw on the margins of Jeno’s notebook as well. By the time their class was halfway over, Renjun had drawn the complete set of characters from the Moomin universe. 

“Are you going to draw on my notebook in Physics too?” Jeno asked once class was over. Renjun grinned and shook his head, packing his stuff away. 

“Maybe I’ll draw on your hand if you let me.”

With a nod of his head, Jeno then put all of his things into his backpack before walking out of the classroom. They walked together towards the gymnasium, where Mark was already waiting. 

“Renny, are you feeling alright today?” Mark said, staring at Renjun with an unusual blank expression on his face. He normally looked quite cheerful.

"I'm feeling okay today." Renjun replied, nodding his head at Mark, who still had the blank expression on his face. 

Before Jeno had the chance to greet Mark as well, the three seniors heard their teacher's voice yelling, "Hurry and get changed! We're playing a game today."

Mark let out a groan at their teacher's instructions and led the way towards the locker rooms. They quickly changed out of their uniforms and into their P.E. clothes, making their way out within minutes. The rest of their class was setting up a few nets for volleyball. 

"The juniors are coming in to play against the seniors. I have a bet with the other teacher so you guys better win or else you're all running laps tomorrow." Their teacher said with a wide grin on his face. A collective groan rang out among the seniors, even Mark let out a sigh, but no one seemed to protest the idea at all. 

"Renjun, go ahead and walk around the track. Lee Jeno, you got hit in the head yesterday and I don't want you getting hit again, so walk with Renjun for today." Their teacher continued on to say, looking over at the two seniors. 

Jeno knew it was probably a bad idea to disagree with his teacher, so he and Renjun walked over to the track so that the volleyball game between the two grade levels could start. 

"Who do you think will win the game?" Renjun said, watching as Mark got picked to play first for the senior's team.

"Probably the seniors, right? We're older and stronger than the juniors." Jeno answered, hearing cheering coming from the juniors as they decided their team. Jisung and Chenle were both going to be playing against Mark. 

"Oh! I forgot you were new here. I guess you've never seen Jisung play volleyball before." Renjun noted, staring over at the young junior. He was getting ready to serve the ball into the other court. 

Jeno and Renjun slowed down their steps, staring at the court as Jisung served the ball. A sharp pop resonated in the air, meaning Jisung had hit the ball significantly hard as he served. The seniors were too slow to try to return the ball over the net and the juniors easily scored a point.

The game continued on, but Jeno paid no attention to it. He was too busy sneaking glances at Renjun, who was still walking right next to him. Somehow, their steps had ended up coming together in unison, but Jeno could tell that Renjun had to take bigger strides just to keep up with him due to his shorter legs.

It was cute.

They were fairly quiet as they walked around the track, mainly because the other people in the gym were yelling excitedly while watching the game, and it would have been difficult to converse. Jeno kept stealing glances at Renjun whenever he thought the other was not looking and luckily he didn’t seem to notice at all. The other boy’s hair looked especially fluffy today and it also looked somewhat wavy, as if he had curled it somehow. His glasses kept falling down the bridge of his nose, and the Chinese boy had to keep pushing them back up. Again, he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, covering his arms.

But Jeno already knew he probably had a bracelet on, one that matched Jaemin’s.

“Is Jaemin going to be alright?” Jeno found himself asking, thinking of the poor senior left at the nurse’s office alone. 

Renjun hummed softly, “He and I get sick pretty easily, but we normally recover fast. Hopefully he’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

_Have you ever heard about the legend of the Moonchild, Jeno?_

Jeno blinked, hearing Mark’s voice in his head, reminding him of what he had read about the day before. 

“Have you two ever been sick at the same time?” Jeno asked, watching as Renjun’s steps nearly faltered at the unexpected question. He glanced at Jeno with an unmistakable look of worry in his eyes.

“Probably, but who keeps track of weird stuff like that?” Renjun said, laughing awkwardly as he quickened the pace of his steps, causing Jeno to do the same. 

Jeno knew better than to pester Renjun with these kinds of questions, so he dropped the subject and started to watch the volleyball game happening on the court. The seniors were already losing, much to their teacher’s dismay. 

“Do you want to explore the town with me tonight?” Renjun caught Jeno off-guard with his sudden question and the senior nearly tripped over his own foot. 

“Are we going to the forest again tonight?” Jeno asked, smiling a bit at Renjun. 

Renjun shook his head, smiling back at Jeno, “No, but there’s this really nice place in town that makes amazing hot chocolate. You definitely need to try it!” 

He definitely couldn’t say no to that offer, especially since he wanted to spend time with Renjun. Plus, he would be able to see more of the town with Renjun as his guide. It seemed like a win-win situation, so naturally he agreed to see Renjun later that night. They made plans to meet up with each other outside of the forest, since it was relatively close to where the café was located. 

Jeno wondered if Jaemin was going to accompany Renjun.

And Jeno kind of hoped he wasn’t. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> welp  
> its 3am

Going out with Renjun at night probably wasn’t the best idea.

It was freezing and it seemed as if this small town was a lot colder compared to Seoul. Jeno made sure to wear a beanie that kept his head warm, but for some reason he had chosen a jacket that didn’t have any pockets. He wasn’t wearing any gloves either, so his hands were freezing. 

They had agreed to meet each other outside of the forest at around 6 o’clock, which would give them enough time to spend together at the cafe. Jeno showed up a bit earlier, about a quarter to 6 and to his surprise, Renjun was already waiting outside the forest. He was busy staring at his phone and his eyebrows were knitted together in such a way that made Jeno feel like he was reading something upsetting. Again, like the night before, Renjun was without his glasses. His wavy hair fell over his eyes slightly, making it difficult for Jeno to clearly see his face. 

“Renjun.” Jeno called out as he approached the Chinese boy.

Renjun looked up and Jeno tried not to smile too brightly at his surprised expression, “Jeno? You’re early!” 

“So are you.” Jeno chuckled, stepping closer to Renjun, who was wearing the same fluffy scarf from the previous week. Unlike Jeno, Renjun appeared to be properly dressed for the cold weather. 

“Aren’t you cold?” Renjun said, noticing how Jeno kept his hands clenched to keep them warm. 

“Kind of, but I’ll be fine once we get to the café.” Jeno replied, smiling through the pain of being cold.

Instead of dilly-dallying in front of the forest, Renjun started to lead the way to the café that he had told Jeno about. They walked together slowly, being careful with their steps because of the fresh snow on the ground. Jeno could feel his lips starting to tremble because of the cold and he wished he had chosen better clothes to wear. 

In the midst of their silent walk to the café, Jeno felt Renjun tug on his jacket sleeve. He glanced over to his side, where Renjun was offering him something in his hand. It was a hot pack with a Moomin print all over it.

Jeno took it without saying a word and he immediately pressed it up against his cheek, thankful for the heat radiating from it. Renjun smiled at the sight of him doing that before turning his attention back to leading Jeno in the right direction. 

It didn’t take long for them to reach the café, Renjun wasn’t lying when he said the cafe was close to the forest. Jeno let out a sigh of relief once they entered the small café, feeling the warm air against his skin. But he still kept the hot pack in his hand, not quite sure if he wanted to return it to Renjun quite yet. 

“Do you want anything else besides hot chocolate? It’ll be my treat.” Renjun asked once they found a table to sit at in the corner of the café. There weren’t many people inside, probably due to the fact that it was snowing and people stayed home instead. 

“Anything you recommend is fine. I like eating basically anything.” Jeno said, smiling in such a way that his eyes formed crescents. Renjun smiled back and nodded before walking over to the counter to order for them.

Jeno kept his eyes on Renjun’s back the entire time he was ordering. He was still holding onto the hot pack that Renjun had given him, still holding it up to his cheeks. It seemed as if Renjun was a regular at this café, given the way the server at the counter greeted him. The server was a young man with a friendly face and dark brown hair. He had reached a hand over to gently pat Renjun’s head as he ordered. The two talked for a few moments and in the middle of their conversation, the server glanced at Jeno. 

He stared at Jeno with a blank expression on his face before turning his attention back to Renjun. Jeno pouted his lips, hoping Renjun would return to their table soon. It took a couple more minutes, but eventually Renjun made his way back to the table.

“I got us both hot chocolate to drink and a slice of blueberry cheesecake to share, is that okay?” Renjun said as he took a seat across from Jeno at the table. He scooted his chair in, resting his elbows on the table; Jeno could feel the other senior’s knees brushing against his own and he wondered how close they actually were. 

“That sounds perfect.” Jeno answered smoothly, still holding onto the hot pack. Renjun glanced at the hot pack and a small smile spread across his lips.

“I can’t believe your jacket doesn’t have pockets.” Renjun laughed softly and the sound of his laughter made Jeno smile even though Renjun was basically laughing at his misfortune. 

“I probably should have worn gloves. My hands are still kind of cold.” Jeno replied as he finally set the hot pack down. He rubbed his hands together, doing his best to produce some sort of heat to warm himself up. Renjun stared at his hands before glancing down at his own.

“We’re the same age and yet my hands look so tiny” Renjun sulked, placing his hands flat on the table.

Jeno looked over and sure enough, Renjun’s hands were a bit smaller than his own. He had what looked like a small bruise on the back of his right hand and it concerned Jeno a bit.

“Don’t worry, this is just a birthmark.” Renjun said, as if he could read Jeno’s mind. Jeno blushed when he realized that Renjun could tell he was worried about the mark on his hand. He kept staring at Renjun’s hand, feeling a sudden urge to hold it. Renjun smiled at Jeno’s bashful expression and before he had the chance to say anything, the two were interrupted by their food arriving. 

“Alright, here are your two hot chocolates and the slice of blueberry cheese cake. Just let me know if you need anything else, Renjunnie.” The server announced as he set down two mugs and a plate on the table.

Renjun nodded his head, “Thanks Jungwoo hyung!” The server, who Jeno now knew as Jungwoo, smiled at the two seated at the table before walking back over to the counter. 

“You must come here often.” Jeno noted, glancing back over at the server.

“I try my best to visit Jungwoo hyung every day here. He used to baby sit me and Jaemin when we were kids.” Renjun replied, handing Jeno one of the two forks that Jungwoo had placed on the table. 

Jeno hummed softly, wondering if Jaemin was feeling any better. He wrapped his free hand around one of the mugs, feeling the warmth radiating from the hot chocolate. Renjun was watching him with careful eyes, waiting for him to finally try to hot chocolate. 

Jeno smiled at Renjun as he brought the mug of hot chocolate up to his lips. He took a small sip at first, tasting how sweet the drink actually was. To his surprise, the hot chocolate wasn’t as sweet as he was expecting, “Wow, this tastes really good!”

Renjun leaned across the table with a smile so bright it nearly made Jeno’s heart hurt, “I know right? Jungwoo hyung is really good at making drinks, but his recipe for hot chocolate is the best! I only drink his hot chocolate.” 

Again, Jeno’s mind raced with the thought that Renjun had brought Jeno somewhere special to him. But it probably meant nothing. It was possible Renjun was just being friendly with him, pitying him because he was the new kid at school. 

“Try the blueberry cheesecake too! It’s my favorite.” The Chinese boy exclaimed, gently pushing the plate closer to Jeno, who chuckled at Renjun’s excitement. He took a bite of the cheesecake as well, nodding his head as he chewed.

“I should start coming here every day if the food is this good.” Jeno decided, taking another bite of the cheesecake. Just like the hot chocolate, it was sweet but not overbearing at all. If Jungwoo had baked this himself, then he truly had some talent.

“You can come with me every day, after school if you want.” Renjun asked, tilting his head to the side. Jeno smiled at the look on his face and nodded his head, “That sounds like it would be fun, but won’t Jaemin be upset if he knows you’re hanging out with me?”

Renun’s expression faltered for a moment, “Jaemin should be nicer to you though. You’re one of my friends too...” 

“We’ll get along eventually. Don’t worry about that.” Jeno said, hoping Renjun wouldn’t overthink anything. Renjun nodded his head, taking a bite of the cheesecake quietly. 

It didn’t take long for the two teenagers to finish the slice of cheesecake and their hot chocolates. When there was only one small piece of the cheesecake left, Renjun had insisted that Jeno eat the last bite, but Jeno also insisted that Renjun finish it. They went back and forth for a few minutes, but ultimately decided on doing rock-paper-scissors to figure out who would finish the cake.

Jeno won, so he made Renjun take the last bite. 

It was only 7 o’clock when they left the café and since they both still had time left before they would have to go home, the two went to visit the small shops located near the café. The first shop they stepped in was a pet store, which excited both Jeno and Renjun. Jeno loved cats and Renjun seemed to like all animals. There were a few kittens up for adoption in the pet store, and Jeno made sure to take pictures of them to show to his parents. Maybe they would let him get one as a graduation present.

The second shop they visited was a stationary store. It was small, but it seemed to have everything a student would need. 

“Oh, since we’re here I should get a new pen. I lost mine the other day.” Renjun said, more to himself than to Jeno. 

Renjun walked away from Jeno for a moment, wandering over to the where various pens were lined up. Jeno took a look at the notebooks, making a mental note to bring his parents here whenever they had time. 

“Jeno, come here!” Renjun’s soft voice called out and Jeno didn’t have to think twice before making his way over to where Renjun was standing.

The said boy was holding two pens in his hand and he held them out to Jeno, “Choose one!”

Jeno stared at the pens, surprised at Renjun’s sudden request. 

The two pens he was holding out to Jeno were the same pen, but in two different colors and two different caps. One was a light blue color and the cap had a small charm hanging from it. Jeno took a closer look at the cap and he smiled once he realized that the small charm was actually a cat. The other pen was dark blue and the cap’s small charm was in the shape of what appeared to be Moomin. 

“I’m picking the Moomin one.” Jeno said, surprising both himself and Renjun. 

He should have chosen the cat one, that’s probably why Renjun picked it up.

“If I use the Moomin one, I’ll be reminded of you.” Jeno continued on, causing Renjun’s cheeks to go pink. Jeno grinned widely at the reaction, despite the fact that he knew he was probably blushing too.

“Then I’ll use the cat one and be reminded of you too.” Renjun said softly, looking at the pens with a small smile on his face. Before Jeno had the chance to offer to buy them for him, Renjun quickly walked over to the cashier and purchased them. Jeno waited for Renjun near the entrance of the store and he held the door open for him as they left.

“Want me to hold onto your pen until you go home? You don’t have a pocket.” Renjun said once they stepped outside, into the cold air.

“Yes please.” Jeno said, spotting another store along the way. The two made their way to the next store, which was a shop that sold a variety of things. There were more of trinkets, small items that were more for collecting than anything else. As soon as Jeno stepped in, he saw an entire display of phone straps and charms. He and Renjun seemed to have the same mindset because they both started walking over to the display. 

“Want to choose one for me? I’ll choose one for you too.” Jeno suggested, looking at the various straps and charms. Renjun smiled at the idea, nodding his head. 

Renjun walked to the other side of the display, taking his time as he looked through all his choices. Jeno did the same, feeling overwhelmed for a moment. Finally, after probably nearly ten minutes of searching, Jeno found a phone charm that was perfect for Renjun.

The charm was bigger than most; the string itself was bright red and at the end of the string was a silver crescent moon. Jeno was sure that it wasn’t made out of pure silver, but it was definitely made out a strong metal. The moon wouldn’t break. 

Jeno picked up the phone charm, walking over to the other side of the display where Renjun was waiting with something in his hand. 

As Jeno approached him, Renjun stuck out his hand, showing Jeno what he had chosen. 

It almost the exact same phone charm, but instead of a metal moon, the charm was a metal star. It was silver, just like the one Jeno had chosen for Renjun.

They both stared at the charms they had chosen for each other, laughing once they realized how in sync they were. 

“Let me pay for these, since it was my idea to get them.” Jeno said, taking the charm from Renjun’s hand before he had the chance to say no. Jeno quickly paid for the two charms at the cashier and as he and Renjun left the store, he handed Renjun the moon phone charm. It took both of them a few minutes to figure out where and how to get them on their phones, but once they were on, it looked pretty cute.

“It’s getting pretty late...” Renjun said as they stepped out of the store. He glanced up at the sky, taking in the sight of the moon. 

“We should probably head home now. It’s nearly 9 o’clock and we still have school tomorrow.” Jeno replied, looking up at the moon as well. It was a full moon, the night before. Now, the moon was in waxing gibbous, three fourths of the way full.

“Do you know how to get home from here? I can walk you home if you want.” Renjun asked worriedly. Jeno knew he was just concerned since Jeno was technically still new in town and he knew very little about directions.

“No, I should be fine. I don’t want you to stay out in this cold for too long.” Jeno said as he lifted a hand up, placing it on top of Renjun’s head. He smiled at Renjun’s flushed face, not sure if the redness in his cheeks was due to the cold or due to something else. 

Renjun handed Jeno his pen along with another Moomin hot pack, “This should keep you warm until you get home. I’ll see you tomorrow at school?” There was a hopeful look on Renjun’s face, one that made Jeno want to wrap his arms around him and give him a hug.

But of course, he wouldn’t do that.

“See you tomorrow, Renjun.” Jeno said, gently petting Renjun’s head with one hand as his other took the hot pack and pen. Jeno wondered how many hot packs Renjun had in his pockets. Would he be warm without them? Did he want the hot packs back tomorrow at school? 

Jeno was so busy with his racing thoughts, that he completely missed the way Renjun glanced up at him. The Chinese boy carefully took Jeno’s hand that was on top of his head and he pressed their palms together, lining them up against one another. It caught Jeno off-guard, but he did nothing but stare at the curious look on Renjun’s face.

Renjun’s hand really was quite small, especially when compared to Jeno’s own hand. Jeno could feel how soft and fragile Renjun’s hand was, against his own. 

Slowly, Renjun and Jeno interlocked their fingers together. Jeno was sure he was blushing at this point, but he didn’t want to break their contact. Renjun smiled up at the taller boy and he gently squeezed his hand. The movement caused Renjun’s sleeve to shift slightly, revealing his small wrist. 

A shiny gold bracelet adorned Renjun’s wrist; one that looked exactly like Jaemin’s. 

“Goodnight, Jeno. Sleep well.” Renjun whispered as he pulled his hand away from Jeno, who immediately missed the warmth and the soft hand against his own.

As snow started to fall to the ground, Jeno stared at Renjun’s retreating figure. He stood still in his spot, watching as Renjun walked further and further away from him. 

Once Renjun was finally out of his sight, Jeno turned and started to make his way back home, with the moon shining brightly above him to guide the way.

-

Jaemin stared at his palm with wide eyes, not quite sure of what to do. He kept staring at the red liquid that he had coughed up, his stomach dreading the realization he never wanted to acknowledge. 

It was the middle of the night, wasn’t it? Where was his Injun?

Quietly, Jaemin stepped out of his bed. As soon as he set his feet on the floor, he felt shivers climb up his spine. The floor was so cold against his own skin.

He stepped out of his room, making a fist with the hand he had coughed into. He could feel the blood in his palm, but he didn’t care about it at all.

Where was his Injun?

His vision became blurry as soon as he stepped into the narrow hallway, but he continued to walk towards Renjun’s room, wanting to make sure he was there.

But once he got to the room, he found it empty. 

The sound of the front door opening almost made Jaemin jump up in fright, but he quickly made his way over to the entrance of the house, spotting Renjun in the middle of taking his shoes off. 

He was covered in a light layer of snow, meaning he had gone outside. 

“Jaemin? I thought you fell asleep after taking your medicine.” The smaller boy said, smiling widely at his best friend.

Jaemin hid his clenched fist behind his back, his vision returning to normal as Renjun stepped closer to him. 

“I woke up to get some water. Where have you been?” Jaemin lied, staring at the Chinese boy’s flushed face. It was cold out, so why did he leave? He held his free hand up to caress Renjun’s cheek, wanting to warm him up as soon as possible.

“I went out with Jeno. We went to Jungwoo hyung’s café and to some small shops in town.” Renjun said softly, leaning away from Jaemin’s touch for the very first time. Jaemin stared at Renjun with a blank expression, clenching his hidden fist tighter. 

He felt his legs go weak, but he resisted the urge to collapse in front of Renjun. 

His vision became blurry once more, despite being right in front of Renjun.

But his heart hurt more than anything else. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 갖지 못하면 죽어버릴지  
> 당장 미쳐버릴지 어찌될지 모르겠어  
> .  
> 손을 뻗어서  
> 널 잡으려 해봐도  
> 점점 더 멀어져

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡ dedicated to aggy ♡

The next morning, Jeno woke up to see a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground and nearly freezing temperatures. The house was so cold and Jeno knew it was because his father probably forgot to turn on the heater last night. He had a bad habit of doing that.

Jeno yawned and slowly got out of bed, stretching his back and arms as best as he could without falling over. The first thing he did was check his phone, like he did every morning. 

The only difference now was the fact that his phone had small charm hanging off of it. He smiled at the charm, remembering the time he had sent with Renjun the night before. He wondered if Renjun got home before the snow really started to fall.

Jeno then glanced at the clock, groaning when he saw that he barely had any time left before he had to leave for school. He quickly changed into his uniform, thankful that he didn’t have to actually choose an outfit and left his room.

His parents had both left for work. His lunch was already made and on the counter. He was all set to go. 

The high school senior slipped on a jacket (one with pockets) before leaving his house. 

He wasn’t as late as he thought he was. Mark and Jisung were just leaving their own houses and he spotted them from a few houses down. Jisung waved excitedly at Jeno before grabbing some snow off the ground. He made a small snowball and immediately threw it at Mark’s head,

He missed, but it’s the effort that counts.

“Hey Jeno, ready to run laps in P.E. later?” Mark said, greeting the other senior with a yawn.

Jeno made a face, “Of course not. I can’t believe the juniors won yesterday,”

Jisung grinned, not saying a word as the trio started to walk to school. Mark and Jisung busied themselves by talking to one another about who knows what. Jeno was preoccupied with playing with the phone charm on his phone. The star was even shinier now that the sun was shining upon it. 

“Where’d you get that, hyung?” Jisung asked when he caught sight of the phone charm. Jeno lifted his phone up, showing off the charm with a happy smile.

“Renjun and I got matching phone charms last night.” He explained, staring at the star. Jisung and Mark’s eyes widened, and they glanced at each other before looking back at Jeno.

They arrived at school moments later and Jisung waved goodbye as he made his way towards the junior building. Mark and Jeno trudged forward through the snow, walking to the back of the campus to get to their own building. 

“See you at lunch!” Mark said as he walked to his own locker. Once Jeno reached his locker, he quickly opened it and grabbed the textbook he would need for his first class. He glanced down the hall, in the direction of Renjun’s locker and saw the smaller boy getting his textbook. He was yawning, and it made Jeno wonder if he got enough sleep last night. 

And to his surprise, Jaemin was nowhere in sight. 

Suddenly, the first bell rang, warning students that they only had five minutes until the first class of the day started. Jeno knew better than to dilly-dally, so he shut his locker and made his way to his class. 

-

“Has anyone seen Jaemin today?” Donghyuck asked as he approached their usual lunch table. Jeno was next to him, looking around the cafeteria for Renjun.

“Renjun was alone this morning, I was going to talk to him but then the first bell rang.” Jeno answered, taking a seat at the table. Jisung and Chenle were already seated, meaning Mark was the only person they were waiting for. 

"I guess he’ll be sitting with us for lunch then.” Donghyuck said, taking his seat next to Jisung. 

Chenle and Jisung already had their lunch and were busy discussing what food they wanted to trade with one another. Donghyuck was the only person without food and when Jeno asked if he was going to eat, he just replied that he was going to wait until Mark got to the table so that they could go buy food together. 

Jeno started to eat his lunch slowly, not wanting to eat too fast. A few minutes later, Mark ad Renjun appeared at the table. Donghyuck let out a sigh of relief once he saw Mark, “You took way too long!”

“Sorry, that was my fault. We had to talk about something.” Renjun said softly, taking a seat next to Jeno at the table. He had brought his lunch, just like Jeno.

“Let’s go get some food, Donghyuck.” Mark and Donghyuck then left the table, leaving the rest of them to their food.

Jeno caught Jisung staring at Renjun for a few moments and he wondered what the junior wanted to say to him. Renjun was sitting quietly on his left side, focusing on eating his food. It looked like he had a lot of food today. Jaemin probably packed it.

“Is Jaemin hyung sick again?” Jisung said, finally breaking the silence happening at the table.

As if caught off-guard, Renjun hesitated before answering, “Y-Yeah, he’s at home. He didn’t feel well enough to come to school today.”

“He was only back for like two days and he’s already sick again? He’s normally fine by now.” Chenle replied, tilting his head towards the other Chinese boy.

Renjun just shrugged his shoulders, dropping the subject altogether. 

Mark and Donghyuck then returned to the table with their food and everyone focused on eating. Jisung and Chenle would occasionally start random conversations about things and the seniors would humor them by answering. It was fairly quiet at the table. 

Until Donghyuck brought up Jaemin again.

“I just don’t get how he gets sick so easily.” Donghyuck said with a mouthful of food. Chenle and Jisung both laughed at the visual.

Mark sighed and flicked the other senior, “Some people just have weak immune systems, Hyuck. Leave Jaemin alone.” 

“Is he alright?” Jeno said, leaning in closer to Renjun. He whispered just to make sure no one else would hear him. 

“Do you want to come visit him later? He’s stuck at home.” Renjun said softly, a small smile gracing his lips as he spoke. Jeno smiled back and nodded his head, happy to see that Renjun didn’t seem to be too affected by everyone bringing up Jaemin even though he was absent. 

Lunch continued on without any more mentions of Jaemin. Everything seemed fairly peaceful at the table. 

Jeno wondered how Jaemin would react to him coming over to visit him later. 

As soon as lunch was over, the friends split up and head their separate ways to their classes. Jisung and Chenle waved goodbye to the seniors before leaving the building and Jeno hoped they would reach their classes on time. Donghyuck and Mark left as well, having different classes to go to after lunch. That left Renjun and Jeno together and the two walked slowly to their Art History class. 

“Did you get home before the snow really started coming down?” Jeno asked once they reached their class. There were two open seats at the back of the classroom and Renjun motioned for them to take those seats.

“Kind of? I was literally three houses away from my own before the snow picked up. It was fine though.” Renjun said as they sat down together. They both took out their notebooks and Jeno smiled when he saw that Renjun was going to be using the cat pen he had bought the night before. Jeno also took out his Moomin pen, causing Renjun to laugh softly.

The sound of Renjun’s laughter was so clear and light. It was a sound Jeno could get used to hearing.

-

Jaemin remembers the first day he met his Injun.

Renjun, unfortunately, doesn’t remember. But Jaemin doesn’t blame him, they were only a year old, after all. 

It was right after Jaemin was presented to the Alter of the Moon. 

Renjun, being only a few months older than Jaemin, was resting in his mother’s arms during the entire ceremony. He already had his bracelet and it was during this ceremony that Jaemin would be receiving his, sealing his fate as Renjun’s servant for the rest of his life.

Growing up, he had no idea he was Renjun’s servant. He merely thought that they were best friends and that their parents were best friends. They lived right next to each other and would hang out every single day. Jaemin’s parents never got mad whenever he would stay at Renjun’s house late or when he would sneak out to play with Renjun. He thought it was a bit strange that they had matching bracelets, but because it was on his wrist all the time, he never really thought much of it.

They went to kindergarten together and were attached to each other at all times. There would be other kids that would come and play with them, but at all times, Jaemin was always with Renjun.

They were always in the same class, always together.

Their friendship was perfectly normal and the never got into fights. Everything was fine.

But it wasn’t until Jaemin overheard his parents that he realized what he truly was. 

He was about ten years old when he first heard his father bring up the “moon child”. Jaemin thought it was some kind of fairytale, one with a sad ending. Then, his mother brought up the “servant” in the story and then broke into tears. His father was a tough man and that was the only time Jaemin ever saw him cry. They were crying for their son, not knowing what the outcome of his life would be. They were crying because of the curse that ran through Jaemin’s blood. They were crying because Renjun was such a pure child, who would never intentionally hurt Jaemin, but he had all the power to.

His parents never saw him eavesdropping on their conversation, they were too wrapped up in their emotions that the failed to notice their son. 

Jaemin wanted to cry too, but something held him back. He knew Renjun would never hurt him.

Two days later, while in the car with his parents, Jaemin’s life took another drastic turn.

It was raining harder than Jaemin had ever seen. They were just coming back from the grocery store, going for their weekly shopping trip as they normally did. Jaemin’s father struggled to keep the car under control as the rain pelted down harder and harder. Jaemin was too busy staring outside his window, wondering what Renjun was up to and what they would do tomorrow after school. 

He never heard his mother gasp.

He never heard his father scream.

In a matter of seconds, Jaemin felt his body spinning out of control. No, it wasn’t his body that was spinning. It was the  _car_. Jaemin remembered screaming and crying as he felt the pain of his body being tossed around. The car must have toppled over at least three times before it stopped moving. 

Jaemin felt so much pain and his body was throbbing. There were shards of glass from his shattered window that were embedded in his cheek, he could feel them digging into his skin. He couldn’t feel his legs at all, they were crushed against the seat of his father.

Jaemin screamed at the top of his lungs, tears in his eyes as he begged his parents the help him. They didn’t move. He screamed even louder, but nothing happened. Jaemin wasn’t stupid, he could tell that they weren’t breathing and that there was no way they had survived the crash.

So then why did he?

What was the point of him living if his parents weren’t with him?

_Renjun._

If he died, then that meant Renjun would die. He was the reason Renjun was alive. 

Somehow, Jaemin managed to survive until paramedics came to the scene. The firefighters and paramedics managed to get him out of the car in one piece; he was wheeled away on a gurney before he got the chance to see his parents. 

Jaemin fell asleep as the ambulance he was in rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t until days later that he woke up again.

But when he did, the first thing he saw was Renjun, sleeping in a chair in the corner of the room. He was covered by a blanket and looked incredibly small by himself. The other ten-year-old was snoring softly and it made Jaemin wonder how long Renjun had been sleeping there. 

Jaemin sat up quietly, being extra careful with himself. He could feel that his legs were in casts, which meant that the crash had broken both of them. He winced as he adjusted his position, noticing how many wires were attached to his body. Everything felt so sore. 

“Jaemin? Are you awake?”

Jaemin smiled gently at Renjun, whose eyes were already forming tears at the sight of his best friend. The older boy jumped off the chair and ran over to the hospital bed, wrapping his arms around Jaemin’s waist carefully.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Renjun mumbled, his face buried in Jaemin’s hospital gown. Jaemin could feel his tears seeping through the thin hospital gown, but he didn’t care. He was happy Renjun was there with him.

That was when he realized what his purpose in life was. 

He belonged to Renjun and maybe, just maybe, Renjun belonged to him.

From then on, Jaemin made sure that Renjun was happy. At this point, they were both aware of what they were and it became an unspoken promise between the two boys that they would always be together.

Renjun’s parents had welcomed Jaemin into their home and they treated him as their own. 

Going to middle school was difficult for the two of them. Renjun, being the gentle person he is, was instantly popular. Jaemin, on the other hand, was just annoyed at anyone that tried to take Renjun away from him.

It was mostly just Donghyuck that tried to take him away. The same aged boy was friendly with nearly everyone and he seemed to share a few interests with Renjun as well. Renjun was nice enough to entertain Donghyuck during moments when Jaemin was no present and that’s how their friendship started.

Whenever Jaemin was unable to go to school, because of how weak he felt, Donghyuck was there for Renjun.

Jaemin was thankful Renjun never fell for Donghyuck.

Jaemin was thankful Renjun never fell for  _anyone_.

They never discussed what would happen if Renjun were to fall in love with someone. Renjun knew that Jaemin’s life was at stake if he were to love someone and Jaemin liked to think that Renjun never fell in love in order to keep Jaemin alive.

Somehow, they managed to survive eighteen years together. Jaemin typically missed a week of school each month, due to the curse running through his veins. Renjun always felt guilty, but Jaemin would much rather stay home and take his shots instead of having to face the sight of an exhausted and sickly Renjun. He hated feeling fine when Renjun was suffering.

This was their fate and that was a fact.

They were destined for each other in the worst possible way.

And through the years, Jaemin naturally fell for Renjun. It was impossible not to love the Chinese boy, especially after spending so much time together. Between the moonchild and the servant, the servant was able to fall in love freely. At the start of his freshman year in high school, Jaemin was given a book by Renjun’s parents, documenting the previous moonchildren along with their servants. 

This legend only happened every one hundred years, so there wasn’t as much documentation as Jaemin would have wanted. 

The first documented moonchild and servant ended in disaster. They had apparently hated each other so much because of the legend, which was more like a curse, that the moonchild felt no remorse when she fell in love. The servant, a man, died very young. 

Despite that, the moonchild and servant from exactly one hundred years ago apparently fell in love. They were the first documented pair to fall for each other, but there was nothing written in the book besides their name and that they fell in love. This drove Jaemin to do more research. He knew that the school library had a book about legends and myths, so he took the chance and read the book.

_However, there has been an exception in the past. If the moonchild were to fall in love with the servant, then where is a chance that they both will survive. If the moonchild falls in love, then he or she gives all of their energy to the one they have fallen for. But if the moonchild falls in love with their servant, therefore giving him or her their energy, then the servant will never feel weak._

_The moonchild and servant will reach an equilibrium between one another and live in peace._

_This can only be obtained if the moonchild naturally falls in love with their servant. According to past documents, this has only happened once._

_Again, this can only be obtained if the moonchild truly loves their servant in a romantic manner._

Jaemin ripped the page out of the book and kept it hidden away in his room. He kept it as a reminder that he could be the one to make Renjun happy forever and in turn, he too would be happy.

But everything changed when Renjun came home one day, chattering on excitedly about a boy he had met before school started. 

His name was Lee Jeno and Jaemin already disliked him.

Apparently, he was a new kid at school that had just moved from Seoul. Renjun found him looking lost on campus and decided to help him figure out where he was going. They ended up eating together during lunch, along with Renjun’s few other friends. Then after that, they had the last three classes of the day together.

Renjun told all of this to Jaemin with a bright smile on his face and it made Jaemin’s heart feel like it was set on fire. Never before had Renjun reacted like this, not once. 

It was going to take Jaemin a few more days to get better and return to school.

He was going to make it clear to Lee Jeno.

Renjun was his. 

-

Luckily for both Jeno and Renjun, it did not snow as they made their way to Renjun’s house. The Chinese boy lived in the opposite side of town, but he still lived fairly close to the school.

Jeno had his hands in his pockets, thankful for the warmth his jacket was providing. Even though it was not snowing, it was still very cold. Renjun was walking next to him, bundled up in a fluffy scarf along with a pair of blue earmuffs. His cheeks were still flushed, due to the cold wind and it made him look cute. 

“My parents are both working late tonight, so only Jaemin will be home.” Renjun said as he gently tugged on Jeno’s sleeve. 

Jeno turned to Renjun, a look of surprise evident on his face, “Jaemin lives with you?”

“Oh, I forgot you were new to this town... Jaemin moved in with my family when his parents passed away. He’s lived with me ever since we were ten years old, but we’ve known each other since we were babies.” Renjun said softly, his voice muffled by his scarf. He stared down at the ground, watching as his steps made foot prints in the snow. 

“You two must be really close.” Jeno replied, knowing that he had to be careful with his words. Renjun still had no idea that Jeno knew his secret. 

“He’s my best friend.” Renjun mumbled against his scarf. Jeno smiled and stopped walking, leaning over to grab a handful of snow off the ground. He quickly dumped the snow onto Renjun’s head, running away before Renjun had the chance to react.

“Lee Jeno!” Renjun yelped, shaking his head to dust off the snow. He glared at Jeno, but there was no malice in his gaze. 

A snowball fight then ensued between the two seniors. Laughter filled the air as Renjun struggled to even form a proper snowball to throw at Jeno. Rather than make snowballs, Jeno opted to gather the snow in arms to dump onto the Chinese boy, covering him with snow. 

Renjun then tackled Jeno into the snow, knocking them both over. Jeno let out a soft groan as he fell onto the ground, but he smiled up at Renjun, who had fallen on top of him. 

“That was cheating.” Jeno said, his eyes forming his signature crescents. Renjun pouted at him, laying on top of Jeno’s chest. His hair was a mess due to the tackle and he still had snow in it. His earmuffs lay on the ground beside them and his scarf was disheveled, coming undone.

“No it wasn’t!” Renjun whined, grabbing some snow from beside Jeno’s head to drop onto his face. 

Jeno made no move to stop Renjun; he simply let him cover him with snow. Renjun’s hands then cupped Jeno’s cheeks, giving him warmth through the snow. Jeno stared up at Renjun, suddenly realizing how close their faces actually were. He could see the shade of brown Renjun’s eyes were and how tired he truly looked despite the smile on his face. 

Renjun looked so fragile up close.

“Your moles are pretty.” Renjun mumbled, his eyes searching Jeno’s face. 

“You’re pretty.” Jeno replied, smiling at how Renjun’s face seemed to redden at the compliment. 

The two spent a few more moments in the snow, not saying a word to one another. Jeno didn’t mind the silence and neither did Renjun. They were fine.

When Renjun finally climbed off of Jeno, he offered him a hand to help him stand up. The two then proceeded on their walk to Renjun's house, walking a bit closer than when they started. 

It took about ten more minutes to get to Renjun’s house and the sight of it took Jeno by surprise.

It was much bigger then the humble home Jeno lived in. Jeno could tell that Renjun was from a wealthy family. The size of the house (Jeno wanted to call it a mansion— For Renjun’s sake he wouldn’t) was probably two times as big as Jeno’s. There was a white fence surrounding both the front yard and backyard and despite all the snow, Jeno could see that the front yard had a variety of plants growing in it. 

Renjun lead the way down a short path to the front door. Jeno could feel himself start to get nervous with the thought of seeing Jaemin. He didn’t want to mess up and accidentally reveal that he knew the secret between Renjun and Jaemin.

The two stepped into the house, taking their shoes off at the entrance. 

“Jaemin? Where are you?” Renjun called, his voice echoing in the house. Jeno looked around for any sight of the other senior, but he didn’t seem to even be on the first floor.

A moment later a weak voice replied, “I’m in my room, Injun.” 

Jaemin’s voice sounded so quiet, Jeno could barely hear him. Something sounded incredibly off about it as well, but Renjun said nothing and lead him further into the house. 

They went up a short staircase to the second floor, where Jeno could see four rooms. He assumed the one at the end of the hall was for Renjun’s parents, but the room they first visited as Renjun’s. 

The walls were painted gray and everything looked fairly simple. Renjun had an easel up in his room and there was an unfinished painting currently on it. Renjun also had a small desk in the corner of his room along with a few picture frames on it. Jeno didn’t stare long enough to see who was in the pictures.

“You can leave your bag here before we go to Jaemin’s room.” Renjun said, dropping his bag onto his bed. Jeno did the same and took off his coat, letting Renjun hang it in his closet. 

Then Renjun brought Jeno down the hall once more, stopping at the next room. He knocked on the closed door twice before opening it and peeking his head in.

“Jeno came by to visit you.” Was all Renjun said before opening the door a bit wider, letting Jeno in.

Jeno’s jaw dropped when he first stepped into Jaemin’s room. He’s never seen so many flowers in one room before.

So many  _wilted_ flowers. 

It reminded him of something his mother once told him as a child. She had told him that flowers can sense the energy around them and if they are placed near a dying person (which they normally were, since people typically gave flowers to those that were dying) they would lean in their direction, as if trying to give their energy and life to them.

It was a silly myth.

But there were at least twenty vases in Jaemin’s room, placed on bookshelves and other tables, and all of them had flowers that were half-alive, leaning towards the center of the room where Jaemin’s bed was.

And where Jaemin was lying.

This meant that Renjun was falling in love, or already in love. 

He was unintentionally killing Jaemin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im literally so sorry this took so long to update  
> a lot of things have happened in the last two months and it has been honestly very hard for me to write, especially when people leave nasty cc messages demanding me to write when im going thru stuff >:( 
> 
> but thats all over now, so here's the update
> 
> grammar mistakes and spelling errors are rampant, as per usual!

“Injun-ah, can you get me some water?” Jaemin asked suddenly, breaking Jeno’s trance. The Chinese boy nodded his head with a small smile on his face before leaving the room, not without giving Jeno a gentle pat on the shoulder. 

Jeno took a deep breath and faced Jaemin once more.

“You know, don’t you?”

Jaemin’s question somehow makes the room seem colder, more quiet. Even without context, Jeno knew what Jaemin was talking about.

“Don’t say a word to Renjun about it. No one knows what we are and I intend to keep it that way as long as I’m alive.” Jaemin said, glaring slightly at Jeno. He just nodded his head. He never had the intention to tell Renjun that he knew his secret.

There was one thing that Jeno was curious about and he took the chance to ask, “Why do you live like this? How do you live for another person?”

Jaemin’s haughty laugh filled the room, only confusing Jeno even more.

“I love Renjun with all my heart. It has nothing to do with him being the moonchild and me being his servant. I love him.” Jaemin said, resolution loud and clear in his voice. Hearing the confession brought a weird feeling in Jeno’s stomach. He wasn’t even quite sure how to define that feeling, but it was definitely something he never wanted to feel ever again.

“Here’s your water Jaemin! Did you already take your medicine? Do you need help with anything?” Renjun’s gentle voice made its way back into Jaemin’s room and Jeno watched as he carefully handed Jaemin a glass of water. 

Jaemin smiled brightly at Renjun after receiving the water. It was like he hadn’t been glaring at Jeno the entire time Renjun was gone.

“Thank you, Injun. I should be fine though.” Jaemin replied, his smile widening at the sight of Renjun’s own smile. 

“Okay, that’s good. Jeno and I will be in my room if you need anything, okay?” Renjun said softly, glancing at the other boy in the room. Jaemin frowned for a moment as Renjun’s attention was diverted to Jeno. He nodded his head, not saying another word as Renjun and Jeno left his room.

Renjun closed the door as quietly as he could, letting out a sigh once it was fully closed.

“Did you want something to eat? I’m a terrible host, I forgot to ask you this earlier.” Renjun asked as the two made their way back to his own room. Jeno just chuckled, thinking that it was cute how Renjun worried about something like that. It was something so small, but Renjun was the kind of person to think of the little things like this. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry. Since I’m here, did you want to work on the Physics assignments together? I bet we’ll be able to finish them in no time if we work together.” Jeno replied as Renjun motioned for him to take a seat on his bed. 

The two then started to work on their homework. Jeno was sitting on the edge of the bed, balancing his notebook on his lap as Renjun was laying on his stomach with his notebook in front of him. The Chinese boy was kicking his legs back and forth as he twirled his cat pen around. Jeno had the strange urge to place his hand on Renjun’s head to pet him, especially because of how close they were, but he resisted the urge. 

“Hey, how’d you get 25 kilometers for number three? I got 38.” Renjun said, leaning in closer to stare at Jeno’s notebook in his lap. Jeno blinked down at Renjun and how close he’d gotten.

Renjun didn’t seem to sense Jeno’s discomfort, so instead of backing up, he then laid his chin on the top of Jeno’s thigh, still focusing on the notebook. Jeno held his breath for a moment, not wanting to make a sudden move that would surprise Renjun.

So instead, he gave in to his previous urge and placed his hand on the top of Renjun’s head, gently running his fingers through the Chinese boy’s locks as he explained his answer. 

Renjun seemed to be comfortable in that particular position, so he stayed there. Once they were finished with their homework, Renjun turned around so that he could lay his head on Jeno’s lap properly. 

“This makes me feel like a cat.” Renjun said, his voice low as he smiled up at Jeno. 

“Are you only saying that because you know I like cats or are you saying that because you mean it?” Jeno replied, still running his fingers through Renjun’s hair. He could see the dark roots of Renjun’s hair, which meant that this color was not Renjun’s natural color. He wondered what he would look like with dark hair. 

Since it was Renjun, Jeno knew he probably looked breathtaking regardless of his hair color. 

“Hmm, both?” Renjun let out a soft giggle before lifting his head off of Jeno’s lap. Jeno immediately missed the contact between them, but he said nothing as Renjun stood up and stretched.

A sudden cough interrupted the silence between them and Jeno’s eyes widened once he realized that it was Jaemin that was coughing in the other room. Renjun frowned at the sound of it and before he had the chance to say anything, Jeno gathered his stuff together. 

“I should probably get going. My mom wants me home to work on some chores.” Jeno lied easily, quickly grabbing his coat from Renjun’s closet. He put his coat on as fast as he could, not wanting to look up at Renjun’s face.

He didn’t want to be reminded that Jaemin was dying. 

He didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he might have feelings for Renjun.

He just needed time to think.

-

“Jeno, it’s freezing outside and it’s a school night! Why did you call me in the middle of the night?” 

Jeno stared at Mark with a grim expression on his face. He had called the other senior right before midnight and they met at the corner that they normally met at before walking to school together. 

“I know what Renjun and Jaemin are.” Jeno said, ignoring the cold breeze hitting his face. He and Mark were both wearing thick jackets, but something about the air made it seem even colder than it actually was. Snow was hitting the ground slowly, covering it in a soft blanket of white. 

The other senior’s eyes widened and he let out a sigh, leaning back on the heels of his feet, “Finally figured it out, huh? It took you a while.”

“Why did you drop all those hints? Why do you know what they are too? I don’t get it!” Jeno raised his voice, despite not being one to yell at people. He believed it was better to just talk it out, but his frustration at this point was too much to bear. He needed answers.

“I’m the foreseer of the legend. I’ve been reincarnated each time the legend has cursed the Huang and Na family.” Mark said, giving Jeno a small smile.

Jeno’s knees nearly buckled in from the information Mark had just told him. First, Renjun and Jaemin were living off of each other’s lifespans and now Mark was some kind of reincarnation? Things didn’t make sense anymore. 

“So you’re like, hundreds of years old then?” Jeno found himself asking, running a hand through his hair. 

“No, I’m really just eighteen. My soul, on the other hand, is much older. Over the years, I have gone by many names. The last moonchild and servant from one hundred years ago knew me as  _Minhyung_.” Mark explained, looking up into the sky with the small smile still on his face. The moon was waning, but still shining so bright. Jeno also looked up into the sky and sighed. The moon truly reminded him of Renjun.

“What do you do as the foreseer then?” Jeno asked, frowning as the air got even colder around him. 

“My loyalty is to the moonchild. I make sure that regardless of whether or not their servant lives, that the moonchild thrives. I’m not related to the Huang family, but I serve them nonetheless.” Mark continued on to say, kicking the snow gathering at his feet. 

“So you’ve seen countless servants die, haven’t you?” 

To Jeno’s surprise, Mark shook his head, “I have seen the moonchild die several times as well, due to the servant being in sickly condition. I’m not sure of what information you know so far, but the moonchild can die if the servant catches a disease or becomes deathly ill. The moonchild is more sensitive and they die faster than the servant with the actual problem.”

Jeno remained silent, so Mark continued to speak.

“It’s true that the moonchild and servant live off of each other. It’s also true that if the moonchild falls in love, then the servant dies, which is what is happening now. Renjun is falling in love.” Mark let out another sigh looking down at his feet before bringing his gaze back up to Jeno.

“Some things are just meant to be tragic, Jeno. It’s impossible to fight fate. Don’t feel guilty about any of this. Just let your heart decide for you.”

Without saying another word, Mark turned back in the directions towards his house. Jeno stayed in his spot, watching as the foreseer soon was no longer in sight. 

-

The next day, Jeno had to force himself to get out of bed. He didn’t get much sleep due to the fact that he spent most of the night awake, trying to process everything he had learned the previous day. 

He woke up with horrible dark circles under his eyes, which worried his parents immensely. He just brushed off their concern and told them that he was studying for school. 

Once he was ready for school, Jeno made his way back to the corner that he had called Mark to last night. Jisung was already waiting for him and the junior just smiled, his cheeks already red due to the cold air of winter.

“Mark hyung went to school early to help out the librarian with something.” The younger boy said before turning on his heel to walk in the direction of the school.

Jeno and Jisung walked with a comfortable silence between the two. Jeno had a feeling that Jisung was aware that he wasn’t in the best mood and decided to leave the senior alone, which Jeno was thankful for. Once the two reached their school, they went separate ways to their respective buildings.

As soon as Jeno walked into the senior building, the warm air inside washed over his body. He was a bit early, so there weren’t many students roaming around in the hallway. Much to his surprise, he did see Jaemin and Renjun walking to their first class. Jaemin had his arm on Renjun’s shoulder and as soon as he saw Jeno, he quickened his steps in what looked like an attempt to keep Renjun away from Jeno.

Jeno frowned, but it was too early in the morning to deal with it, so he just went to his locker to get his textbook for his first class.

Before he could leave his locker, he felt his phone vibrate, meaning he had received a message.

_[Huang Renjun has sent you a message!]_

**Renjun** : good morning jeno!    
 **Renjun** : i know jaemin tried to keep me from seeing you...   
 **Renjun** : see you in class later (:

Jeno smiled at the messages and sent Renjun a reply of a few emojis.  He then pocketed his phone once more, heading to class before the morning rush of students got in his way.

As always, Jeno’s first three classes were boring since he was alone. His school day didn’t really pick up until lunch, when he was able to see all of his friends. As soon as his third class had ended, Jeno made his way to the cafeteria with his lunch already in his backpack. To his surprise, Jisung and Chenle were already at their usual table, and when Jeno questioned their presence, they just grinned and said, “We left class a little early! Our teacher had no idea.”

Jeno wasn’t really surprised that the juniors did that, so instead of scold them he took a seat right next to Jisung at the table. Soon enough, Mark and Donghyuck joined them at the table and it looked like they were in the middle of another argument.

“You always take Jaemin’s side! What about Renjun? Aren’t you his friend?” Donghyuck complained as he dropped his backpack onto the table loudly. Mark rolled his eyes at the action and said nothing in reply.

Chenle, the bravest at the table, was the one to question the seniors, “What happened?”

“This traitor,” Donghyuck sneered, jabbing Mark in the chest with his elbow, “saw that I was trying to get Renjun to sit lunch with us today since Jaemin collapsed during class earlier. He was going to eat lunch with Jaemin at the nurse’s office.” 

Mark rolled his eyes again at Donghyuck’s dramatics, “Jaemin would probably get lonely at the nurse’s office if he had to eat by himself. Just let Renjun keep him company.” 

“But I miss Renjun!” Donghyuck whined, acting very much like a child. Jeno chuckled at his friend’s antics. It was clear that Renjun also meant a lot to Donghyuck.

In fact, it was clear that Renjun meant a lot to everyone around him.

His friend group was definitely centered around him, despite the fact that he was unable to be with them all the time. There wasn’t a day that passed by when he wasn’t mentioned among them. Jeno wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Renjun was the moonchild. Was he just naturally able to draw all these people in? Or was it just Renjun himself that was alluring like this?

It was ironic, really. Renjun was the sun, when in reality he belonged to the moon.

-

Jeno made his way to his Art History with the expectation of Renjun waiting for him, but sadly he was nowhere to be seen. Even as the bell rang, signaling the start of class, the Chinese boy had yet to arrive. 

To ease this worry, Jeno sent Renjun a quick message when teacher wasn’t looking.

 **Jeno** : hey, are you coming to class?

Minutes went by, but no reply came. Again, when the teacher wasn’t looking, Jeno sent another message.

 **Jeno** : renjun?

Still no reply came through, but Jeno knew better than to bother the boy if he was busy. Renjun was probably just preoccupied with Jaemin, like always. He decided to take extra neat and understandable notes, just in case Renjun was going to need to copy them later. 

His Art History class quickly ended without any problems, so Jeno then had to hurry to his P.E. class. To his surprise, Mark was waiting for him at the entrance of the gymnasium. 

“We need to talk after class. It’s important.” Was all the young man said before going to change into his uniform. 

Jeno followed after him and changed as well, heading out to the gymnasium where he and the other seniors were forced to run laps. Mark was pacing himself next to him, but said nothing as they ran their laps. Jeno wanted to ask what was so important that they needed to talk, but he had a strange feeling it had to do with Renjun. At this point, everything had to do with Renjun. 

After a grueling hour of just running laps, Jeno could feel his legs starting to cramp from underneath him. It was like every single muscle in his body was being sent into overdrive, but luckily enough the P.E. class was soon over and Jeno could relax. 

He changed back into his uniform, sans cardigan, and saw that Mark was already waiting outside of the locker room for him. The foreseer looked like he hadn’t broken a sweat at all. Jeno thought that it had something to do with him being a reincarnation of whatever he was. That had to be the only explanation.

“Renjun wasn’t in class earlier, was he?” Mark asked, walking Jeno to his next class.

Jeno shook his head, “No. You saw that he wasn’t in P.E. either, right? Where is he?”

“I thought he would go to class after dropping off Jaemin at the nurse’s office, but I was wrong. He’s not answering my text messages either.” Mark let out a sigh, taking a quick glance at his pocket. Jeno did the same and frowned when he saw that Renjun hadn’t replied to him as well.

“You don’t think he’s hurt or something, do you?” Jeno asked, worry evident in his voice. Mark let out an even bigger sigh, but shook his head.

“He’s hurt, but I don’t think he’s hurt physically. I think he realized what’s happening.” Mark replied, his footsteps slowing down as they reached Jeno’s class. 

“Wait, Mark. I have a quick question.” Jeno said, stopping right in front of his class. Mark raised an eyebrow, so Jeno took that as a signal to keep talking.

“You’re a reincarnation, right? Don’t you get lonely? Have you ever just wanted to fall in love with somebody but can’t because you know it won’t work out?” Jeno asked, in pure genuine curiosity. He had been thinking about this ever since he saw Mark at lunch, but he couldn’t ask this question in front of his friends.

“I’m a reincarnation, but I’ve fallen in love with the same soul each and every time.”  

Before Jeno even had the chance to say anything, Mark waved his hand goodbye and left Jeno in the hallway alone. Jeno wasn’t even sure if Mark’s next class was in that direction, but he knew better than to call out for the senior. Mark’s answer was interesting and Jeno wondered who was the owner of the soul that Mark kept falling in love with.

His final class of the day went by slowly, mainly because he was bored and left alone. He had turned in the homework he and Renjun had worked on together and was sadly reminded of the Chinese boy’s lack of presence. Even their teacher was surprised to see that he wasn’t in class since he normally never missed class before.

Jeno kept checking his phone, hoping to see a reply from Renjun. However, no reply came all throughout class, which disheartened Jeno greatly. He needed to know that Renjun was alright, wherever he was.

-

-

-

“Injun-ah, are you in love?” 

Jaemin smiled as his best friend, the love of his life, grew surprised at his sudden question. They were back at home, laying together in Jaemin’s bed after he insisted on skipping school to go back home and rest. Renjun, being the sweetheart he naturally was, agreed instantly in order to please his friend. His phone and other belongings were in his room, forgotten for the time being.

“What do you mean, Jaemin?” Renjun asked, tilting his head in slight confusion.

Jaemin smile widened and he reached out a hand to gently caress Renjun’s cheek, “I asked if you were in love with someone.” 

Renjun blushed and shook his head, burying his face into Jaemin’s pillow. Despite everything that was going on around them, Jaemin still found Renjun to be so endearing and cute. 

“It’s okay if you are, Injun. You can acknowledge your feelings for him.” Jaemin said softly, running his hand down Renjun’s upper back, patting him like a mother would to soothe her baby.

“But Jaemin...” Came Renjun’s muffled reply and Jaemin could already hear his voice breaking.

“I know, Injun. It’s fine.” Jaemin laid his head next to Renjun, hearing the Chinese boy finally start to sob, covering Jaemin’s favorite pillow with tears. 

Hearing Renjun cry eventually caused Jaemin to break into tears as well, although his tears were for a completely different reason. Renjun was crying because he felt as if everything was his fault. Jaemin was crying because his time with Renjun was nearing an end, despite all of his efforts to make the boy fall in love with him. Their fate was tragic, but there was nothing either of them could do about it.

“I’m so sorry, Jaemin. I’m sorry.” Renjun cried into the pillow, not wanting show his face. 

Jaemin wiped his tears away and pulled Renjun into his arms so that the boy could hide his face in his chest instead. He didn’t mind the tears soaking his shirt, he just wanted to hold Renjun.

“There was nothing you could do about it, Injun. Your heart decided for you.” Jaemin said, pressing a soft kiss to Renjun’s forehead, which only caused him to sob even harder.

Jaemin continued to speak as Renjun tried to calm down, “You should tell him about your feelings. He deserves to know about them, especially because he’s the first person you’ve ever fallen in love with.”

Renjun nodded his head and Jaemin smiled, accepting his fate. 

He loved Renjun with all his heart, but his time was up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took me nearly a year to finish this fic... amazing...  
> anyways i just wanna thank whoever read this fic and kept up with it despite my lack of updates and meh writing
> 
> its almost 5 am as i am posting this  
> so pls expect spelling mistakes and grammar errors!! 
> 
> i will come back to edit this hehe

Renjun’s life as the moonchild was never easy.

His parents were constantly worried about him, especially as a child. They were always trying to shelter him from the outside world because of the curse. Having their child depend on another child was too much of a burden on their minds. They were never sure how strong Jaemin really was and if the younger boy was capable of keeping Renjun alive and serving him.

But Jaemin was perfect, really.

Ever since he was a child, Jaemin did nothing but support Renjun.

He was always by Renjun’s side, even during the hardest moments of his life. When Jaemin’s parents died, Renjun was worried that Jaemin wouldn’t be himself anymore. However, Jaemin remained his bright and happy self in order to please Renjun. He was dedicated to serving Renjun to the best of his capabilities. 

They never referred to each as other as a servant and moonchild. Rather, they were just Renjun and Jaemin, the best friends that were never apart from each other for too long. After Jaemin found out that he was a servant, he never brought up the topic of the curse. The two had a mutual understanding that they would not let the curse get in the way of their friendship. 

Renjun would always be there for Jaemin when he felt weak. He would be the one to give Jaemin his shots of medicine that supposedly made it easier for the servant to deal with the excessive drainage of energy. Renjun wasn’t sure if the shots even worked. The medication had been passed down in his families for ages and Jaemin responded well to it, even though Renjun knew that he had a fear of needles. 

Once the two entered middle school, Renjun could see that Jaemin was slowly starting to change. He was starting to become possessive of Renjun and it got to the point where Renjun found himself with very few friends. Jaemin scared everyone but Donghyuck away, which was the reason why Renjun and Donghyuck were still close friends. Renjun knew that Jaemin was only doing this because he was worried about Renjun, especially on the days when Renjun would be feeling completely drained of his energy. They were both also worried about anyone else finding out about their relationship as moonchild and servant, especially because it would be a very difficult thing to explain. They didn’t want any unnecessary sympathy.

Whenever Jaemin was feeling unwell, Renjun would stay with Donghyuck at school. Donghyuck would complain about Jaemin, but the moonchild would always defend his best friend. 

Renjun was all Jaemin had left. 

He was Jaemin’s last pillar of support left.

Mark was then thrown into the mix during high school. He had revealed himself to both Renjun and Jaemin was the foreseer of the legend. He was the one that helped Renjun and Jaemin through the times when the curse felt like it was too much. He would tell them stories about the servants and moonchildren before them and what they went through. He was also the one that had told them about what could possibly happen if the servant and moonchild fell in love.

Renjun loved Jaemin, but his feelings for the younger boy were platonic. He tried to convince himself that it was possible to fall in love with Jaemin, in order to keep him alive. He tried his best. He couldn’t force himself to have the feelings that Jaemin had for him. Then everything changed the day Renjun met Jeno.

Jaemin was staying home for the day because he was feeling horribly weak, so Renjun was left to walk to school by himself. To Renjun is felt like it was a lonely walk, mainly because he was so used to having Jaemin next to him when going to school. However, this would happen every few weeks, so it wasn’t like Renjun wasn’t used to it. 

It was snowing the day that he had met Jeno. The new student was standing in front of the school, looking completely lost. Renjun noticed that he wasn’t wearing a hat and was only using a scarf to protect him from the cold, so the tips of his ears were turning a pale red. 

“Are you lost?” Renjun found himself asking as he stepped up to the confused student. 

Jeno had turned to face Renjun, but he stared at him for a moment without giving a reply. Renjun could feel his face heat up due to the intense stare, so he continued to speak, hoping to get a response. 

“Is that a yes?” Renjun asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared up at the new student. 

“Yes, I guess. It’s my first day here.” Jeno had said, blushing slightly. At that time, Renjun wasn’t sure of it was due to the cold or because of his embarrassment. 

Renjun then offered to bring him to the school administration, but not before asking for his name and what year he was in.

“I’m a senior. My name is Lee Jeno.” 

Renjun smiled and introduced himself as well, happy to be able to help the new student. There was something about Jeno that felt as if he was magnetic, pulling Renjun in without any reason at all. It wouldn’t hurt Renjun to befriend Jeno, especially since he seemed to be helplessly lost. It was his last year of high school and Renjun wanted to make friends, even if Jaemin was against it. He had very few friends in his year because of his servant’s actions and demeanor. 

The two walked next to one another towards the senior building. On the way to the building, Renjun could feel the stares of other students on him and Jeno. It was an unusual sight to see Renjun without Jaemin and the other students were probably all wondering who the unfamiliar face was. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and Renjun didn’t even have to check it to know that it was Jaemin. On the days when he couldn’t make it to school, Jaemin would make sure to text Renjun every hour to make sure he was okay. Renjun replied to Jaemin quickly before turning his attention up to Donghyuck, who was waiting with a small smile on his face.

Donghyuck waited for Renjun every morning, even though he knew that Jaemin wouldn’t let them stay together for too long. On the mornings when Jaemin wasn’t around, Donghyuck always welcomed him with a bright and happy smile and Renjun was thankful for that.  Renjun knew that Donghyuck was a reliable friend, he just wished Jaemin would accept him as a friend as well.

The Chinese student quickly introduced Jeno and Donghyuck to each other before bringing Jeno over to the administers office. Renjun wanted to stay longer and help Jeno find his classes, but he himself was worried about missing his first class. As soon as Jeno was seated in the office, Renjun said goodbye to the new student. 

As Renjun walked away from the office, he found himself glancing back towards where he had left Jeno. 

He hoped they would have classes together. 

-

As if fate heard his wishes, Renjun found himself sitting beside Jeno during lunch. Donghyuck had found him waiting outside the cafeteria and had invited him to sit with their normal group. He had even offered Renjun half of his sandwich, which Renjun took gratefully. He had forgotten to bring a lunch as he normally did, because he was too worried about Jaemin being at home alone.

During lunch, thanks to Donghyuck’s natural nosiness, Renjun was able to learn that Jeno had moved to their small outside of Seoul because of his mother’s new job. Before he had the chance to say anything, Mark handed him a bottle of water. 

The moonchild glanced at the foreseer, feeling a bit confused at the action, but took the bottle without question. As he drank the water, he heard Mark ask Jeno about his classes. To his surprise, Jeno shared his afternoon classes with Renjun, so there was a chance for the two to become friends. 

For the rest of the week, Renjun was able to walk with Jeno to and from their afternoon classes. He learned a lot about the new student during their short walks and even though they had only just met, it was like the two had known each other for much longer. He even let Jeno copy his Physics homework, which Donghyuck was extremely jealous about. 

Renjun just wanted to be a good friend. 

At the end of Jeno’s first week, the group of friends planned to have a sleepover at Mark’s house. Renjun and Jeno, like magnet, were next to one another almost the entire night. 

Renjun felt so comfortable with Jeno, despite the fact that they had just met. 

It was a strange feeling.

One that Renjun couldn’t describe. 

One that he never felt before.

However, the moonchild brushed it off, thinking that this feeling was only due to the fact that Jeno was his newest friend and it had been years since Renjun made a friend. Instead of trying to understand what he was feeling, he pushed the feeling back, ignoring it for the time being. 

As time went on, the feeling that Renjun would experience at the sight of Jeno would become stronger, and he still didn’t know how to deal with it nor did he know what it was even called. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Jaemin or Mark about it because he was so unsure of how to even explain the feeling. He could feel his chest swell up and a strange sensation in both his mind and body whenever he was with Jeno, it was a feeling he had never experienced with anyone before. 

Only a week after meeting Jeno, Renjun ended up inviting him to explore their small town’s forest. It was Renjun’s favorite place to go, especially on a full moon. The pagoda hidden in the forest was the perfect place to star gaze. 

He rushed out of his house before his parents or Jaemin had the chance to ask him wear he was going. Unfortunately for Renjun, the closest jacket he could grab belonged to Jaemin, so it was slightly too big on him. But the moonchild didn’t mind... Jaemin’s clothes always felt the warmest. He had forgotten to put on his glasses as well, but Renjun was sure he could last a couple hours without them. 

Even though Renjun had told Jeno to meet him in twenty minutes, it only took Renjun minutes to reach the entrance to the forest. He wanted to compose himself before Jeno could see him. There wasn’t much to see in the forest anyways, so Renjun had to come up with a valid reason for wanting to go.

“Jeno!” Renjun exclaimed, waving his hands once he spotted the other senior approaching the forest. 

Jeno greeted him with a warm smile as he stepped closer to Renjun. The Chinese boy could feel his face warm up, but he brushed off the feeling as his body reacting to the cold weather. 

The two then entered the forest under Renjun’s guidance and the moonchild made sure to look back at Jeno, making sure he wasn’t tripping on the dirt path they were on. The full moon was bright enough to shed enough light in the forest, so Renjun didn’t have to worry about losing his way. He did know the forest like the back of his hand, seeing as he’s explored it many times since he was a child.

Within a few minutes, Renjun spotted the pagoda and led Jeno towards it. Renjun took a seat at the center and stared up into the sky, admiring how the full moon was shining on the cold night. They spent a few minutes talking with one another about anything. Jeno brought up Jaemin, wondering why he seemed to be so disliked by Jeno’s other new friends. Renjun was purposely vague with his answer, hoping not to expose his secret to his new friend.

Renjun wondered what Jeno would think if he ever found out about the curse he had inherited. 

Would Jeno push him away? 

Would Jeno pity Jaemin?

Or would he accept Renjun, no matter what was happening to him?

There was no way for Renjun to figure out the answer, so he wanted to take the risk and befriend Jeno no matter what. 

So that was why even after a night of spending time with one another, Renjun invited Jeno out once again, bringing him to his favorite café in town with the best hot chocolate he could ever ask for.

Jeno had made a bad decision by wearing a jacket without pockets, so Renjun gave him one of his Moomin hot packs, which Jeno immediately held up to his cheek to warm him up. Renjun smiled at the sight, thinking Jeno looked awfully similar to a satisfied cat. It was a cute sight. 

After reaching the café and settling in their seats, Renjun realized how intimate everything felt. He and Jeno were seated across from one another at a small table. Renjun scooted in closer, resting his elbows on the table as he smiled at Jeno. They were so close; their knees brushed up against each other with the slightest movement. Something about being with Jeno like this made Renjun’s chest swell up with that unknown feeling, yet again. He still wasn’t sure what it was, but it was definitely a nice feeling.

Once the two were finished with their hot chocolate and cheesecake, Renjun suggested they take a look around some of the small shops. He wanted to spend more time with Jeno and luckily for him, Jeno agreed with a smile on his face. 

Renjun was glad, especially because he wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet. 

He and Jeno ended up buying something for one another, which made the night seem more special. A cat pen and a moon-shaped phone charm for Renjun and a Moomin pen and a star-shaped phone charm for Jeno. 

It was nearly 9 o’clock when the two high schoolers decided that it was time to go home. Renjun was reluctant, but Jeno had placed his hand on top of Renjun’s head, causing the Chinese boy to blush. Renjun only hoped Jeno thought it was because of the cold.

“See you tomorrow, Renjun.” Jeno said, petting the top of the boy’s head gently. Renjun nearly melted at the touch before carefully taking Jeno’s hand, pressing their palms together. As if under some sort of spell, Renjun and Jeno interlocked their fingers together. It was like their hands were a puzzle; they fit perfectly together.

“Goodnight, Jeno. Sleep well.” Renjun whispered, pulling his hand away from Jeno’s slowly. As soon as he let the other boy go, Renjun already missed the contact between them. The moon was shining brightly above them, reminding Renjun he needed to be home soon. He smiled at Jeno before turning around to head back home.

He couldn’t hear anything else besides the loud thumping of his own heart. 

It was like his heart was trying to tell him something.

-

“Mark, can you tell me a story from your previous life?”

“Moonchild, now is not the time for a story.”

“Fine. Then can you tell me what love feels like?”

A moment of silence passed. 

“If you’re asking me this Huang Renjun, you know it’s too late.”

Another moment of silence passed.

“You have a duty as the moonchild to let your servant pass in peace. Don’t waste any more time.”

-

Renjun knew he was in love the moment he held Jeno’s hand. 

It was a strange feeling, falling in love for the first time after living for eighteen years. His parents had fallen in love when they were younger than him and the same for his grandparents. They were lucky enough to not have the curse in their veins. 

He desperately wanted to ignore the feeling in order to keep Jaemin alive and happy. But with how often Jaemin was falling ill and with the medication failing, it was only a matter of time. 

Renjun imagined Jaemin to react negatively. He thought Jaemin might try to pick a fight with Jeno and tell him to back off. But instead he encouraged Renjun to confess his feelings towards Jeno, even if it meant that he would die in the process. Renjun didn’t deserve Jaemin. 

They spent the rest of the day together, relishing in what may be their last moments together. All Jaemin wanted to do was hold Renjun in his arms, so they laid together for hours. Renjun would tear up every now and again, but Jaemin was quick to wipe away his tears. Jaemin cried as well. 

“Somewhere, down the line, I’m sure we will meet again.” Jaemin whispered as he hugged Renjun closer to him. His words only caused Renjun to cry even harder, the moonchild gripping onto his friend tightly, scared to let him go.

“We might be friends, we might be lovers, we might be completely strangers. But I’m sure we will meet again one day.” Jaemin continued on, feeling his own heart breaking. He wanted Renjun to be his, but there was no use fighting against Renjun’s heart. It was too pure. 

“You were my best friend and I thank you for everything you have done for me. Forgive me for trying to keep you to myself for all these years. Tell Donghyuck and the others I’m sorry as well.” Jaemin knew he had made bad decisions, especially when it comes to Renjun and his friends. He wished he could say sorry himself, but there wasn’t enough time left.

“It’s time to call Mark, moonchild. I’m sorry.” Jaemin pulled himself away from Renjun, who looked beautiful regardless of the tears staining his face, running down his cheeks. His eyes were bloodshot and quite frankly, he looked like a mess. But he was still beautiful and Jaemin was thankful for him. 

“The ritual will commence at night.” Renjun said softly, not lifting his head to meet Jaemin’s gaze. The servant felt his heart nearly drop at the phrase, but there was nothing he could do. Renjun’s heart had decided for the two of them.

As the moonchild and servant, they still had once last duty to fulfill.  In order for Jaemin’s soul and mind to pass peacefully and without malice and in order to protect the next moonchild and servant, the two must complete a certain ritual. This ritual, under the guidance of the foreseer of the legend, ensures that the servant passes without pain and despair. 

It had only been performed and completed by a handful of moonchildren and servants; only those that have accepted their fates have gone through with the ritual.

Jaemin had no regrets. Renjun knew what his own heart was now feeling.

No one would know of the ritual, not even the family of the moonchild would be present. 

Later that night, after all of the small town had fallen asleep, the moonchild, servant, and foreseer made their way into the forest. Renjun held onto Jaemin’s hand as the servant was being carried by Mark towards the small pagoda. He was already too weak to walk on his own. This didn’t need to be the exact location for the ritual, but Jaemin wanted to be out in the open with no prying eyes around. 

They were all dressed in simple, white ceremonial outfits. Renjun and Jaemin were wearing their bracelets, which was the last thing binding them together. 

Mark gently laid Jaemin down in the center of the pagoda, and with a heavy heart, started to chant softly in a language both Renjun and Jaemin did not recognize. It was the language of the moon, one that was eradicated and lost through time. One that only one soul could speak.

Renjun stood in front of Jaemin, fists clenched tightly as the moon was shining above them, almost as if it knew exactly what was about to happen.

**_From the moon, back to the moon_ **

**_The legend has come full circle, forming the full moon itself_ **

**_My servant, who has served me well, giving me life_ **

**_Will now give his final breath, before returning to where he once came_ **

Renjun felt tears coming to his eyes as he said the prayer he was taught to memorize as a child.  It was one he never thought he would use, but one he needed in his heart. 

**_The Huang family is served well, the Na family bloodline will continue on_ **

**_In one hundred years, the roles will be born again_ **

Jaemin smiled, closing his eyes. He had no more tears left. Nothing at all. He could feel his heart slowing down at the sound of Renjun’s prayer. 

**_From the moon, back to the moon_ **

**_The legend has come full circle, forming the full moon itself_ **

**_Thank you, servant_ **

**_Your purpose has been fulfilled_ **

And with the last final words, Renjun smiled at his best friend, laying before him. He then kneeled onto the ground, bowing his head towards Jaemin. He was thanking him with all of his heart. For everything.

**_Goodbye, Jaemin._ **

Renjun didn’t raise his head and Mark stopped chanting. They knew Jaemin’s heart had stopped. Renjun couldn’t stop his tears as Mark approached him. He felt a hand resting on his head, as if the gesture would somehow calm him down. 

“Renjun, let’s go. The sun is going to rise soon and we have much to do.” Mark said softly as he started to pull the boy off his knees. 

-

For Renjun, the next few days were a blur. His parents had taken over, finalizing over what seemed to be official paperwork for Jaemin. Renjun locked himself in his room, not wanting anything to do with anyone. He shut himself away from the world, mourning quietly by himself.

Mark left him alone. His parents left him alone. 

From his room, he could overhear his parents talking with Mark. Jaemin wouldn’t have a fancy service. Just a proper burial in the town’s small cemetery. They arranged for it to happen on the same day. Renjun wouldn’t attend. No one else would know about the exact cause of Jaemin’s passing and Renjun knew people at school would think it was due to his poor health. 

Renjun wondered how things would change. 

Before he had the chance to ponder in his thoughts, a knock on the door interrupted him.

“Renjun, it’s Jeno. Mark asked me to come over to see if you were alright.”

The Chinese boy’s eyes widened hearing the familiar voice and his heart starting racing immediately. He had no idea why Jeno was here and why Mark would let him come over. 

“Please let me in, Renjun.”

Hesitantly, Renjun made his way towards his door and he opened it just a crack, seeing Jeno dressed in his school uniform. He opened the door a little wider, staring up at Jeno with teary eyes.

Jeno let himself into Renjun’s room and closed the door behind him before suddenly wrapping his arms around Renjun’s smaller frame, “I’m so sorry.” 

Renjun blinked, causing some tears to fall. How did Jeno know? There was no way people at school would already know what had happened. 

“Mark told me a while ago about this legend... It took me a while to realize that it was actually about you and Jaemin. I’m sorry I never told you that I knew.” Jeno said, answering Renjun’s thoughts. The moonchild said nothing and wrapped his arms around Jeno, holding onto him tightly as he let himself cry a bit more. 

Jeno was silent, letting Renjun cry onto his chest without any questions. 

Moments later, Renjun pulled away slightly to look up at Jeno. He let a few more tears escape his eyes before asking, “Am I a bad person for falling in love?” 

Jeno shook his head, wiping away Renjun’s last tears with his thumb. 

“No, you’re only human. Don’t ever feel like you’re a bad person for falling in love.” Jeno answered, not bothering to ask Renjun who he fell in love with. Renjun let out another sob, starting to cry all over again. 

It was going to take a long time for Renjun to heal. 

He hoped Jeno would be there along the way.

-

-

-

“Renjun, I know you like drawing but my hand isn’t your canvas.” 

“But when we first met you said I could draw on your hand!”

Jeno sighed, watching as Renjun continued to draw on the back of his hand. The sun was shining brightly and the cat charm on Renjun’s pen looked like it was going to melt under the extreme temperature. It was only spring, but the summer weather seemed to be starting early this year. 

The two seniors were seated on a bench, outside of the senior building as they waited for Mark and Donghyuck. They had all promised to go to the arcade after school, but Mark had forgotten something in his locker and Donghyuck offered to accompany him.

“Can you believe we’re graduating in two weeks? It’s amazing how fast time went by.” Renjun said, concentrating on drawing a cat on Jeno’s hand. 

Jeno tried his best to ignore the feeling of Renjun holding his hand while drawing, so he looked away. 

“Did you finally decide what university you were going to attend? You got into both of your choices.” Jeno asked, looking at the entrance of the building, waiting for Mark and Donghyuck to show up.

“Hmm, it depends.” Renjun said, his voice trailing off softly.

Jeno raised an eyebrow, “It depends on what?”

“Depends on which school is closer to the one you’re going to.” Renjun said quickly, finishing up his cat drawing on Jeno’s hand. Jeno blushed at the Chinese boy’s words before taking a closer look at the drawing.

Renjun had drawn a cat and Moomin, sitting next to each other on a bench. There was a small heart above both of their heads.

“Sorry for taking so long.” A voice called from behind the two seniors. Renjun turned around, spotting Mark and Donghyuck walking closer to the bench.

“Renjun, I still can’t get over your dark hair. You look so different.” Donghyuck said, staring at the top of Renjun’s hair. He had dyed it dark brown right before their graduation pictures, trying to keep it more formal than his previous blond hair. 

Jeno liked the dark brown hair. He liked Renjun with blond hair as well. He was sure Renjun would look good regardless of what color his hair was. 

“Are we still going to the arcade?” Jeno asked, standing up from his seat on the bench. Renjun stood up as well and Jeno passed him his backpack that was on the ground.

“About that...” Mark said, looking away for a moment. Renjun stared at his friend, confused about his reaction.

Donghyuck let out a nervous laugh, “We both have somewhere we need to be.”

“A date?” Renjun and Jeno both deadpanned, staring blankly at the other seniors. 

Mark and Donghyuck didn’t answer, which just confirmed what Renjun and Jeno has asked. They let Donghyuck and Mark go, watching as the two hurried off to wherever they had planned to go.

“They’re cute.” Renjun said with a small smile on his face.

“Mhmm.” Jeno hummed, agreeing with Renjun immediately. They two walked together to the small café in town without saying a word. They had an unspoken agreement that they were spend their time at the café after school to work together on homework. However, since it was now the end of the year, the two didn’t have much to work on. 

“Whose turn is it to pay?” Renjun said, entering the café as Jeno held the door open for him.

After a moment, Jeno replied, “My turn. You bought the drinks yesterday.”

Renjun nodded his head, making his way over to the table that he and Jeno normally sat at. As he took his seat, he watched Jeno wait in line to order their drinks. Jeno definitely needed glasses, by the way he was squinting to read the menu posted on the wall. Renjun smiled, knowing that Jeno would order the same drink as he always did.

The last few months after Jaemin’s passing had been rough for Renjun. He had many things he had to get used to now that his best friend was no longer around, but thanks to the support of Jeno and his other friends, Renjun was able to make it through. One of the hardest things he had to do was clean out Jaemin’s room. Mark had offered to do it for him, but Renjun knew that in order for him to have closure, he needed to face reality. So, one month after the ritual and Jaemin’s passing, Renjun, along with Mark and Jeno, started to clean up Jaemin’s room. They ended up burning most of his belongings, but there were a few things Renjun kept for himself.

Jaemin had a photo album of his childhood pictures with Renjun. He had kept that and he looked through it with Jeno, trying to remember when every single picture was taken.

He missed Jaemin. He really did. He wondered what it would be like to graduate with Jaemin and to see him go off to college. 

Renjun still had not confessed his feelings to Jeno, but that did not stop Jeno from telling Renjun about he felt. Right before their college entrance exams, around two months ago, Jeno and Renjun were studying together at Jeno’s house. It was already late at night, so Renjun was going to spend the night. The two were talking about what schools they wanted to attend and what their majors were going to be. Renjun wanted to major in Art History and Jeno was still undecided.

Jeno admitted he wanted to return to Seoul to attend school, while Renjun was interested in leaving the small town he grew up in to attend a university in another city or even abroad. After hearing that Renjun may be far away from him, Jeno grew quiet. Renjun could tell that there was something wrong with the way Jeno was acting, so he asked what was on his mind.

“I don’t want to be too far away from you.” Jeno confessed, looking down at the notes he was studying. 

Runjun blushed, a small smile growing on his face, “Why?”

“Because I like you. More than just a friend.” Jeno continued on, still not looking up at Renjun.

Ever since then, the two had been in some sort of strange agreement. They weren’t exactly dating, since Renjun never confessed his own feelings, but the two did spend more and more time together. It was a rare sight to see the two apart from each other. 

Renjun knew he was in love with Jeno, he just didn’t know when to tell him. Jeno knew that his feelings were reciprocated, but he still gave Renjun time to think about it.

“Here’s your gross iced coffee.” As if on cue, Jeno appeared right before him with a glass of iced coffee. Renjun smiled and took the drink, laughing at Jeno’s expression. 

“Just because you don’t like coffee doesn’t mean I can’t like it.” Renjun said, taking a sip from the glass.

Jeno placed his usual drink, lemonade, on the table. He didn’t like the bitter taste of coffee and always judged Renjun for drinking it.

“It’s going to stop you from growing.”

“You already know I stopped growing and can’t get any taller.”

Jeno laughed, nodding his head. He smiled at Renjun, sipping his own drink. 

The two were perfectly content with one another. There was no awkwardness between them and no problems at all. If they ever fought, it was usually about whose turn it actually was to buy their drinks and snacks. Jeno had a tendency to trick Renjun into thinking that it was always his own turn, because he wanted to treat Renjun. 

“Did you and your parents ever decide on what you were going to do about your living situation for school?” Renjun questioned, stirring his drink with his straw. He stared at Jeno, a look a curiosity evident on his face.

Jeno nodded, “It took a long time to convince them, but I’ll be getting an apartment close to the school in Seoul. My parents want to keep living here, since it’s quiet.” 

Renjun hummed, nodding as Jeno answered him.

“So, that being said... I’ll be needing a roommate...” Jeno’s voice trailed off, but Renjun knew exactly what he was implying.

“I’ll think about it” Was all Renjun said and that was a good enough answer for Jeno.

That was the only time Jeno brought up living together. The next two weeks were filled with the seniors getting ready for their graduation. Chenle and Jisung were excited, but they were also sad about seeing four of their friends leave the school. 

Mark and Donghyuck were excited, even though Mark was going back to Canada to attend a university. Everyone in the friend group knew that Donghyuck was sad, but everyone also knew that the two wouldn’t let distance get in between them. They hadn’t even officially started dating yet. 

Renjun had made the final decision to attend the so-called rival university of the school Jeno was going to attend, which made things pretty interesting. Neither of them were competitive, but attending school games would be fun and by deciding to attend a university in Seoul, Renjun also agreed to be Jeno’s roommate. A two-bedroom apartment was big enough for them. Perhaps too big.

On the day of their graduation, the four seniors were all seated apart from each other. Renjun was seated closer to the front and Jeno, Mark, and Donghyuck were spread out two rows behind him. The ceremony was long and boring, as all graduation ceremonies are. As they received their diplomas, they all cheered loudly for one another, with Donghyuck bring extra loud for his friends just for fun.

After the ceremony was over, Renjun rushed back to his three friends and immediately jumped into Mark’s arms, already saying that he was going to miss him as he returned to Canada. Donghyuck joined the hug, and Jeno followed. The four were wrapped in that hug for quite a while, until Chenle and Jisung made their way over. 

Instead of joining the hug, the two juniors (now seniors) jumped onto their newly graduated friends, yelling out how proud they were.

“Jaemin would have been so proud of you, Renjun.” Mark whispered, hugging the Chinese boy tighter. 

“Thank you.”

After a few more moments of celebration, they all had to find their parents and family amongst the crowd of people that attended their graduation. Donghyuck and Mark said goodbye, promising to meet up in the next few days before it was time for Mark to leave. Chenle and Jisung left as well, running off together with linked arms.

“Meet me in the forest tonight?” Renjun asked, looking up at Jeno with a hopeful look on his face.

Jeno smiled, his eyes forming crescents so similar to the moon, “Of course.”

The two then had to separate and meet up with their families to celebrate their success. Renjun’s parents showered him with kisses, praising him for all of his hard work.

Deep down, Renjun knew Jaemin would be doing the same for him, if he was there. 

And of course, Renjun would do the same for him.

-

Renjun had asked Jeno to meet him in the woods, but rather than go inside, he led Jeno to the park that was located outside of the forest. When Jeno questioned him, Renjun stated that he felt like sitting on the swing set. 

So that’s how they found themselves in this position, Renjun was seated on the swing and Jeno was pushing him gently. 

“What are we going to do now?” Renjun asked, swinging his legs as Jeno pushed him. He stared up into the sky, but the moon wasn’t anywhere in the sky. 

“Now we have to go to college and get jobs.” Jeno answered, thinking Renjun was referring to that. 

Renjun let out a soft laugh, looking back at Jeno, “I meant about us, Jeno.” 

Jeno stopped pushing Renjun on the swing and slowly, Renjun’s movement came to a halt. Renjun looked back again, staring at Jeno who seemed to be deep in thought. 

“You know I love you, right?” 

Renjun blushed immediately, hearing Jeno’s confession for the first time. He had never said that before, so he was caught off-guard by the statement.

Before Renjun had the chance to reply, Jeno made his way around the swing and faced Renjun, who was still seated on the seat. He smiled when he saw Renjun’s reaction and he had to resist the urge to pinch Renjun’s flushed cheeks.

“I’ve loved you for quite a while now and I’m willing to wait for you, whenever you’re ready.” Jeno finished up, smiling down at the surprised Renjun.

He didn’t think Renjun was ready to talk about his feelings yet. There were so many things going on around them, Jeno didn’t want to push Renjun into thinking that he needed an answer right away. He was content, as long as he had Renjun with him and by his side.

Jeno was about to step away from the swing, but Renjun quickly tugged on his sleeve, pulling him down closer to him. Jeno was about to say something, but he felt a pair of lips against his, effectively cutting him off. 

The kiss was brief and gentle, as any first kiss would be. When the two pulled away, Jeno was smiling widely at Renjun, who was looking away with an embarrassed look on his face. Jeno tilted Renjun’s chin up using his thumb and index finger, leaning back in for another kiss. 

This kiss lasted much longer, mainly because Renjun’s hands found their way to Jeno’s shoulders, holding onto him as Jeno deepened the kiss, trying his best to convey all of his emotions he couldn’t quite describe. They separated moments later, both out of breath with small smiles on their faces.

Renjun gently knocked his forehead on Jeno’s, wrapping his arms around Jeno’s neck to keep him close to him as he said, “thank you for showing me what love is”.

“You’re welcome, Renjun.”

“And Jeno...” The Chinese boy’s voice was so quiet, Jeno nearly didn’t hear him.

Jeno looked down at Renjun, tilting his head to the side, “yes, Renjun?”

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thank you to everyone that read this.   
> also wanna thank my lovely friends for supporting me through this long fic. it was a crazy project for me to do this but i'm already excited for my next project!
> 
> p.s. sorry abt jaem :( had to be done

**Author's Note:**

> drop some love
> 
>  
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ceedlessmelon)  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/lovectzen)


End file.
